University Singers concert improves visuals

Michael Reckord,  Gleaner Writer

The genius of the University Singers' musical and artistic director, Noel Dexter, in getting the absolutely correct sound from the group is universally acknowledged.

This is not to suggest that there is one uniformly 'correct sound' for a choir (and 'sound' here is being used to encompass all the elements of good singing - tone, timbre, dynamics, projection, pacing, diction, etcetera) for different songs require different sounds, especially if they span different musical genres.

Amazingly, considering that the singers' repertoire includes many different genres, for all the genres, and for individual songs, the sound is just right. That is to say, not only pleasing but authentic.

The genres covered in the group's 2011 concert season now running at the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts (PSCCA), Mona, are: European art music (commonly called 'classical'), Gospel, (Negro) Spirituals, African, Jamaican Folk, American Pop, Rocksteady and Soca.

And in the two-and-a-half-hour-long show, there are more than two dozen individual songs. Every one gave pleasure to the large audience at the PSCCA on Saturday night.

Worthy of being singled out of the cornucopia of riches that the singers provided are the items with inputs by members. For example, audiences will hear a solemnly sung Psalm 23 with a complex, textured arrangement by Franklin Haliburton, as well as his humorous skit-with-song, Ride De Chariot, featuring two gossiping church sisters (Carolyn Reid and Althea McKenzie).

excellent performance

These soloists performed excellently in the show's first half on Saturday: Dominick Fraser singing Trees, with Sherie-Ann Thomas accompanying on violin; O"Neil Jones singing Ev'ry Time I Feel De Spirit; Camille Davidson singing I've Been 'Buked; Roy Thompson singing Ezekiel Saw De Wheel; Orane Thomas and Marcelle Thomas singing Jesus is Love as a duet; Shauna-Kaye James singing an African song in a medley, African Suite; and Stephan Sinclair singing in a Buju Banton medley of 'conscious' lyrics, Streams of Consciousness. The soloists all have alternates who will perform at other shows.

In the second half, which always has lighter music, the folk songs include favourites like Mawnin Neighbour, You Tell a Lie, Dalfus Gawn and Some Man Coulda Smart. The Mo-Town medley includes Don't Leave Me Girl and I've Got Sunshine.

The Rocksteady Suite includes Once Upon a Time, Angel of Mercy and When it Comes to Loving.

Modern Day Blessings include By the Rivers of Babylon, When the Saints Go Marching In and Wings of a Dove. The final segment, Good Ol' Soca, includes All Night Party and climaxes with Give Me Soca.

What does a singing group do after perfecting its sound? It could do what the University Singers has done this year - put more focus on the show's visual elements.

Long-standing fans of the singers will know that the late Rex Nettleford did beautiful, but quite simple, movement work with the group. His successor, Kevin Moore, raises the bar quite a bit.

He had the singers do very complex floor patterns while singing. It is a tribute to both the members' mental focus and physical coordination - even, at times, athleticism - that they move with grace and ease throughout the show.

Of course, the show's visual element includes the costumes. These vary to the severe black suits and gowns of the opening numbers to the bright, floral outfits of the second half. Nadia Roxburgh's varied lighting contributes to the several moods of the concert.

All things considered, this season is one of the best.