Concert Review: All About Buford, Ball in the House, Syncopation

Hey folks,

My apologies for taking so long to finally post my review of the concert that I told y'all about a few weeks ago, so here it be...

I had never been to the St. Lawrence Arts Center in Portland before, and was curious about the organization and its facilities. I'm on their email news list, you see, and I get many event announcements that look intriguing. I can now say that I'm glad that my son and I made the 2+ hour drive to check it out - what a neat venue! The arts center is actually in a huge, old, stone church on Congress Street that's been converted into a performing arts venue, complete with classrooms and a cute little intimate theater. From my estimation, it seats about 125 people, stadium-style.

Ball in the House came on first, and what a set! It should be mentioned, though it didnt' seem to impact their show at all, that they had JUST travelled like 14 hours from their last gig in Ohio to perform in Portland that night.

I hadn't seen these guys in almost 8 years, but man, how far they've come! They were consummate professionals on-stage, very professional, in both their actual performance and their interaction with each other and the audience. I hadn't seen Aaron (their high tenor), Dan (their baritone) or Ryan (their bass) sing with them before, but I did remember Dave (how could you forget that sweet, soulful 2nd tenor?) and Jon J. (sweet, solid VP) from previous incarnations.

In my opinion, and this is truly only my opinion (probably not worth as much as a new blue tarp at Marden's, mind you), Aaron brings a whole new American Idol sense to the show. He seems to channel Beyonce and James Brown at the same time - amazing talent - riffin' and rippin' up solos like a man possessed, bringing us all along for the ride. The boy got style, that's all I'm sayin'...lol

And baritone Dan is just as sweet on a solo as he is when he teams up with Dave on harmonies.

The guys went off-mic for a couple of songs, just to prove to the audience that yes, they really ARE making all these sounds themselves - microphones aren't THAT magical. And the cool thing was, with the venue being as intimate as it was, you could hear every note. They even reminded people that yes, they ARE famous, thank you very much, by singing that sweet and tasty whipped topping jingle that everyone knows but noone knows who sings it. :) Nicely done, guys!
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All About Buford was next - and again, this was a group that I had not seen perform for many years. They've been through a few of their own lineup changes, but the current personnel - Amy Malkoff, Sean Dargie, Sarah Linebarger & Ranjan Ahuja (brother to Rupak Ahuja from The House Jacks - little a cappella trivia for ya!) - have got a good thing goin'...

Amy and Sarah's voices work very well together, switching off between top and bottom parts whenever necessary.

Ranjan's tenor/bari fills in with the lower range, but also sings very well all on his own (how many words can YOU sing in one song? Ranjan's got it beat!). His sense of humor and all-around pleasant demeanor definitely come through on stage.

And then there's Dargie..lol Sean is the VP AND bass for the group; he wears a throat mic to help his low kicks and other percussion sounds be better heard, while he uses a traditional vocal mic to sing the bass notes and spit snare and high-hat sounds into. Sounds daunting, but he definitely rises to the task. I enjoyed some of the creative rhythms and sounds that he added to the mix of originals and covers that Buford performed.

One of my son's favorites of the evening (he's 11, so any mention of superheroes or flying is an automatic "thumbs up" for him) was a Malkoff original, "Rocket Bride":

She'd joined the likes of Superman and devised a two-way plan
to protect and rid the world of crime and also find the man
Many were the criminals she subdued with her bouquet
and yet there was no sighting of the one who got away

And her sidekick Maid o' Honor would sometimes hear her cry
when they'd finished an assignment and took off into the sky

Rocket Bride, she sees you
she can see it all from above
Rocket Bride, she's flying
into the arms of her one true love

Really neat stuff! I really did enjoy the different harmonies that AAB uses in their music - it's not mainstream fluff, that's for sure. Their lyrics are insightful and intelligent, and while they do require some close attention to "get" (which we did very well at as an audience, Ranjan said), they are WELL worth the attention. Now I just wish they'd record some of them for us to enjoy when we're not able to see them!!
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What can I say about Syncopation? Umm...WOW! How's that?? :-D

These four musicians first teamed up at Berklee College of Music in Boston, and it is very obvious from the get-go that they know their stuff! They ALL play instruments (the two ladies played trombone and trumpet, the guys played piano), they all sang amazingly - AMAZINGLY, folks - but most impressively, they were outstanding at ALL of them! And they looked like they were having a BLAST! Can't get much better than that...

Shocker of the night: One of them is only 19 years old! Soprano/trombone player (I KNOW!) Aubrey Logan is the youngest member of the group, but dang - this girl must've been BORN scatting! She's got some serious jazz chops, folks, and a wonderful humility to her that just makes her all the more appealing. Her solo on Yumiko Matsuoka's arrangement of "Both Sides Now" was just gorgeous.

Christine Fawson, their alto & trumpet player, is a faculty member at Berklee, and an Edwards Trumpet artist. She has a Joe-Cocker-meets-Janis-Joplin kind of vibe, but man, does this lady have soul!

David Scott, I learned from his bio online, has studied with Phil Mattson at the School for Music Vocations in Creston, Iowa (who knew?), has published some arrangements through UNC Jazz Press, and is currently on the faculty at Berklee as well. He played a mean piano during the massive "Route 66" jam session, as well as adding his sweet baritone to the vocal mix.

And now we come to "Lee." Tsunenori "Lee" Abe is a celebrity in Japan. Really. He was in a Japanese boy band called "Baby Boo" and has traveled around the world with Up With People. His arrangements are phenomenal, folks. Honestly, they will make you weep (check out "I Can Fly" and others on their Audio/Video page. Some of them are published by UNC Jazz Press, many are published in Japan, and I am making it my goal to carry ALL of them in the A-Cappella.com catalog - stay tuned. Abe added so much to the whole performance - his air drum set during "Route 66" - complete with drum solo - was SO much fun!

I picked up two copies of "A New Dance" - their debut CD, which features Paul Stiller (yes, of Vox One), among others. One copye for me, one to send to Meegan in NYC (an up-and-coming jazz diva in her own right). Their newest CD "Of Blue" is only currently available in Japan, but should be released here soon.
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So there you have it, folks. Long, questionably worth your time, but out there nonetheless - my review of a night well spent.

Shout out to a cappella aficionado Kurt Boutin, who smart-ly brought his wife to the concert as a surprise birthday present - kudos to you, Kurt, for being a) thoughtful enough to bring your wife somewhere cool on her birthday and b) for being cool enough to make it an a cappella show! AND a great big "WOOT!" to the Maine Steiners I saw there as well - hey Ryan and Jason - one of whom I used to have in music class back in the day, and is now teaching on his OWN in southern Maine! My, how time flies!

Thanks for stickin' with it this far, y'all. Catch ya on the flip side!
-Amy B.