In Perfect Harmony: Celebrating the Vocal Group

Director's Note

By Rob Fisher

People have been congregating and singing in harmony for a thousand years. Born first out of the traditions of religion, then opera, barbershop, blues and folk music, an increasing variety of vocal harmony greeted the arrival of the 20th century. But with the advent of electrical recording, radio and ever-improving microphones, the ability to capture great harmony singing created an entirely new commodity. During the 1920s and ‘30s, new ways of turning music into cash blossomed; no longer relying on transmission through sheet music sales, popular song was delivered aurally via vocal groups heard on record or radio. For the first time, all of America heard the same versions of songs and the groups who sang them became known for their particular blend or their unique style. That country-wide exposure meant an enormous market for recordings and radio performances.

Ironically, the rise in popularity of these groups often came in spite of technology. Many were family groups, whose blend was developed in the living room rather than the studio: groups like the Mills Brothers, the Boswell Sisters, the Andrews Sisters and the Beach Boys. But there were also “groups” who used new recording techniques to devise the ultimate family association: Stevie Wonder, Patti Page or Les Paul and Mary Ford, for example, multi-tracked themselves to create even tighter harmonic blends. Music made by a few, like ABBA or Queen, could expand their vocal sound to simulate large choirs. Some groups created harmonies that rivaled their instrumental counterparts: the Modernaires’ tight arrangements often blended four or five voices within an octave much like the Glenn Miller Orchestra’s reed section. And who is not mesmerized by the Mills Brothers’ or the Boswell Sisters’ ability to vocalize the sound of instruments that supplanted the need for a backing band in the first place?

With improved technology came the opportunity for more complex harmonic palettes, yet what was old became new again. The Beach Boys revisited the parlor harmonies they practiced as children around the piano. Kids on the street, singing just for the fun of it, were brought to the studio to capture their infectious and accessible doo-wop sound. The Carter Sisters and the Jordanaires with Elvis Presley brought church gospel singing to the forefront of popular music. All these groups abandoned the more complex harmonies and rhythmic textures of the popular music and jazz that immediately preceded them.

Certain styles became associated with geographical regions; the cities of New Orleans, Nashville and Memphis became synonymous with their own flavor of music-making. The Brill Building in New York City, Motown in Detroit and Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles created production processes that mimicked assembly-line methods, trading human celebrity for an aural familiarity ascribed more to the studios or songwriters than the singers themselves. Nonetheless, singers emerged from these factories to prove that the voices themselves were still the true force behind their popularity.

Despite the reality that music in the last century has been driven more by money than merit, the result is a breathtaking legacy of American popular song. This program will explore the rich harmonic texture of many of the different 20thcentury eras, from the jazz harmonies of the ‘30s, to big band vocals in the ‘40s, to doo-wop in the ‘50s, to the sweet group harmonies of the ‘60s and to the rich textures of the pop rock savants of the ‘70s. Whether accompanied or a cappella, vocal harmonies have and always will require singers to listen closely to each other, a true group effort and we all look forward to listening closely to that partnership this evening from the New York Voices and the DiGiallonardo Sisters, who will often work together to share some perfectly harmonious sounds.

Back to Top

Selected Song List:

Following are some of the songs currently scheduled to be performed during “In Perfect Harmony: Celebrating the Vocal Group”:

BECAUSE (1969)
Lyrics and music by Lennon/McCartney

BIRDLAND (1977)
Lyrics by Jon Hendricks; music by Joe Zawinul

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (1975)
Lyrics and music by Freddie Mercury

CLOUDBURST (1960)
Lyrics and music by Jon Hendricks

I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU (1934)
Lyrics by Al Dubin; music by Harry Warren

JEEPERS CREEPERS (1938)
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer; music by Harry Warren

JUKEBOX SATURDAY NIGHT (1942)
Lyrics by Albert Stillman; music by Paul McGrane

MONDAY, MONDAY (1966)
Lyrics and music by John Phillips

MOON RIVER (1961)
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer; music by Henry Mancini

NEUTRON DANCE (1983)
Lyrics by Allee Willis; music by Danny Sembello

ONE FINE DAY (1963)
Lyrics and music by Gerry Goffin and Carole King

SH-BOOM (LIFE COULD BE A DREAM) (1954)
Lyrics and music by The Chords (James Keyes, Claude Feaster & Carl Feaster, Floyd F. McRae & James Edwards)

SURFER GIRL (1963)
Lyrics and music by Brian Wilson

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN (1970)
Lyrics and music by Graham Nash

WHY DO FOOLS FALL IN LOVE (1956)
Lyrics by Jimmy Merchant & Herman Santiago; music by Jimmy Merchant

YOU BELONG TO ME (1952)
Lyrics and music by Pee Wee King, Chilton Price and Redd Stewart

IN MY ROOM (1963)
Brian Wilson/Gary Usher

Back to Top  

Rob Fisher returns to Lyrics & Lyricists for the eighth time, after leaving everyone simultaneously shocked and delighted two years ago with “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park: The Art of the Satirical Song.” He made his series debut as pianist in 1983 in a Tin Pan Alley program and he was music director for the 2004 show on Ira Gershwin, the 2005-07 series with Sheldon Harnick and the 2008 tribute to Fred Ebb.

Mr. Fisher is a recognized authority on American music of all kinds. He was music director and conductor of the Tony Award-winning Encores! series at New York’s City Center from its inception in 1994 through 2005. The Broadway hits Chicago, Wonderful Town and Apple Tree began at the Encores! series and Mr. Fisher has made numerous recordings for the series, including the Grammy Award-winning Chicago cast album. He remains supervising music director of companies of Chicago around the world.

Among his current activities, Mr. Fisher is music supervisor for the Tony Awardwinning Broadway revival of Anything Goes and he regularly creates evenings for the American Songbook series at Lincoln Center. Next month, on April 24, he will lead the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and an all-star cast in a gala concert performance of The Sound of Music at Carnegie Hall. In 2007, Mr. Fisher conducted the critically acclaimed revival of My Fair Lady with the New York Philharmonic. That same year, he was music director of the Central Park production of Hair and he was music supervisor for its 2008 revival and 2009 move to Broadway, where it won the Tony Award for Best Revival. He was the music director for the New York premiere of Sondheim’s Saturday Night at the Second Stage Theatre in February 2000.

Mr. Fisher has been a guest of virtually every major US orchestra as conductor or pianist, performing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue or Concerto in F major. Among them are the Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the San Francisco, Pittsburgh and National symphonies. He enjoyed a long relationship with the New York Pops, sharing concerts with the late Skitch Henderson.

Mr. Fisher’s performances have been televised on many occasions. He was featured twice on the PBS series “In Performance at the White House” for President and Mrs. Clinton in the East Room. He conducted an Emmy Awardwinning concert performance of Sweeney Todd with Patti LuPone, George Hearn and the San Francisco Symphony, which was broadcast on PBS and is available on DVD. In addition, for four seasons, Fisher was music director for Garrison Keillor’s American Radio Company and remains a frequent guest on “A Prairie Home Companion.” His discography includes more than two dozen recordings.

Back to Top

Born and raised in the Boston area, pianist Andy Ezrin has performed extensively around the world. Since 1989, he has worked with New York Voices, appearing on their tours and recordings. For the past four years, he has been touring throughout the world as keyboardist for jazz trumpeter Chris Botti and he has also toured and recorded with Joe Jackson, Rickie Lee Jones and Christopher Cross. Mr. Ezrin has participated in leading international jazz festivals, including Montreal, Montreax, North Sea in Rotterdam and Live Under the Sky in Japan. In the US, he was featured soloist with the Count Basie Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, he played with the Boston Pops and he has appeared at Lincoln Center and the United Nations.

Mr. Ezrin is leader of his own jazz piano trio, which earlier this month played at Birdland and has appeared at such other New York venues as the Underground Lounge. His 12 recordings include the Andy Ezrin Trio’s What Speaks to Me and Tactile and his solo CD, Silent Movies, featuring all original compositions. As a composer, Mr. Ezrin’s work can be heard extensively on television and radio, including PBS’ “Sesame Street” and Cartoon Network’s animated series Courage the Cowardly Dog, where he was co-composer for four years. His other film and television credits include Clifford’s Really Big Movie, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Electric Company, The Rosie O’Donnell Show and Late Night With David Letterman. He has also performed live on television in Russia, Israel, France, Ireland and Japan. His website is andyezrinmusic.com.

Back to Top  

Scott Faris was director of William Shatner’s one-man show, Shatner’s World: We Just Live in It, at the Music. Box Theater, prior to its national tour. He made his Broadway debut as production stage manager for the Hal Prince revival of Cabaret, then honed his directorial skills by working as a production stage manager for some of Broadway’s best directors on many Tony Award-winning productions, such as City of Angels, Les Misérables, Cabaret, Grease, Cats, Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Children of a Lesser God, as well as legendary productions like Busker Alley and Whistle Down the Wind. He was director of the 2006 US tour of Sweet Charity with Molly Ringwald and later, Paige Davis.

Mr. Faris’ other recent directorial credits include Bette Midler’s The Showgirl Must Go On at Caesars Palace and Chicago in over a dozen languages in 17 countries around the world. His arena spectacular, Walking With Dinosaurs, has garnered rave reviews in the US, the UK and Australia and had record-breaking runs at both Madison Square Garden and London’s O2 Arena. He took over direction of the Leslie Bricusse musical Sammy at the Old Globe in San Diego, which enjoyed a sold out run. In Las Vegas, he directed “EFX!” at the MGM Grand Hotel, starring Michael Crawford and was part of the production team that created Siegfried & Roy at the Mirage Hotel. He has also worked as a directing consultant for Cirque Du Soleil. Originally from California, Mr. Faris started his career as an actor, performing in commercials, industrials and musicals, among them A Chorus Line.

Back to Top 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, the DiGiallonardo Sisters have been singing together since early childhood and still call New York City their home. Daniela has sung lead vocals for a variety of bands, including The Demensions and she currently sings with The Kings County All-Stars. She also teaches at Brooklyn’s Mark Twain School for the Gifted & Talented. Nadia is a pianist, composer, arranger and singer, who served as musical director-conductor for the 2009 Broadway production of Hair and music directorpianist for ABC’s The Tony Danza Show. Christine is a singer and actor whose credits include Two Gentlemen of Verona at Shakespeare in the Park and My Fair Lady with Rob Fisher and the New York Philharmonic. Her voice can be heard on numerous TV commercials, including spots for Mr. Clean, Aquafresh and Febreze. All three sisters have appeared numerous times on “A Prairie Home Companion” with Garrison Keillor. Last December, they released their renditions of “O Holy Night” and “Silent Night;” each can be downloaded as an MP3.

Back to Top 

Now in their 24th year, the Grammy Award-winning New York Voices are renowned for their extraordinary scope of music and their trademark style of tight arrangements, intimate voicings and daredevil scatting. The Voices (Darmon Meader, Peter Eldridge, Kim Nazarian and Lauren Kinhan) have performed in such prestigious venues as the Blue Note Jazz Clubs of New York, Milan and Tokyo; Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and the North Sea, Montreal, Cape Town and Jakarta Java jazz festivals. They perform most often with their instrumental trio and they regularly tour with Latin jazz legends Paquito D’Rivera and Ivan Lins. The Voices have also performed with a variety of artists including Ray Brown, Patti Austin, George Benson, the Metropole Orchestra, the Boston Pops, the WDR Big Band and the Count Basie Orchestra.

The Voices earned critical acclaim with their self-titled debut album on GRP Records in 1989. Subsequent releases have included New York Voices Sing the Songs of Paul Simon (RCA Victor), Sing! Sing! Sing! (Concord) and their most recent CD, A Day Like This (MCG Jazz). The Voices have also performed on many recordings as guest artists. These include the Grammy Award-winning Count Basie Orchestra with New York Voices: Live at Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild (MCG), Paquito D’Rivera’s Latin Grammy Award-winning Brazilian Dreams; and tribute recordings to Antonio Carlo Jobim (Heirs to Jobim, BMG), Bill Evans (I Remember Bill, BMG) and Ivan Lins (A Love Affair, Telarc). The Voices’ website is newyorkvoices.com.

Back to Top 

Saxophonist Lawrence Feldman has appeared on Broadway in the orchestras of the current How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, West Side Story, Little Women, The Color Purple and others. He has played in thousands of commercials and TV shows and he has had prominent solos in such films as The Untouchables, The Cotton Club, Mad Dog and Glory and A Stranger Among Us. Mr. Feldman has been the lead alto player in Bob Mintzer’s Big Band since 1989 and he was a member of the “Saturday Night Live” band during the 1980s. He played on Tony Bennett’s two Duets CDs and he has also worked with artists as diverse as Steely Dan, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Sting and the New York Philharmonic.

Back to Top 

Guitarist Andy Schwartz has a career spanning more than 35 years. He recently joined the pit orchestra of Anything Goes and among his other Broadway highlights are Hair, The Light in the Piazza, Evita, Dreamgirls and Crazy for You. He also appeared with the New York Philharmonic for Sondheim’s Company and at Carnegie Hall for the American premiere and recording of Kristina by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA fame. Mr. Schwartz toured the US and abroad with rhythm & blues stars Ashford & Simpson for 18 years, including a performance at 1983’s legendary Live Aid concert and he has accompanied many other notable artists in concert, on record and in nightclubs.

Back to Top 

Bassist Paul Nowinski performed in Hugh Jackman’s recordbreaking one-man show and has been the bass man for Betty Buckley, Bernadette Peters and Brian Stokes Mitchell. He regularly tours with New York Voices and the Boston Pops and he served with Les Paul’s band for six years, performing with legends like Tony Bennett, George Benson and Steve Miller. Mr. Nowinski has worked with artists as diverse as rockers Keith Richards, Patti Smith, Rickie Lee Jones and Steve Tyler; jazz greats Teddy Edwards, Pat Martino and Paquito DeRivera; and blues statesman Hubert Sumlin, earning him one Grammy Award and five nominations. He was discovered by Nipsey Russell, who heard him perform in the Catskills.

Back to Top 

Marcello Pellitteri is an award-winning drummer, accomplished pianist, educator, composer, arranger and producer. He has played with New York Voices; the Gipsy Kings; jazz legends like Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Jon Hendricks, Slide Hampton and Paquito D’Rivera; and such orchestras as the Boston Pops, New Jersey Symphony and Taipei Philharmonic. Mr. Pellitteri has recorded more than 60 CDs and he has performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O’Brien and Asian, South American and European radio and TV. He has performed before heads of state, including President Clinton at the White House. Visit myspace.com/marcellopellitteri.

Back to Top