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Music Review
Midwest Beat Magazine
Stormy Weather "Voice Activated"
A cappella recording can be very
dangerous. Unless a group /producer /arranger is highly creative,
voice-only recordings can begin to sound the same rather quickly,
and interest lost rather permanently.
So the question here is...Are N.W.
Indiana's Stormy Weather - led by vocal maestro Henry Farag and
including Linda Walla, Billy Shelton, and Jenise McAleer - able to
sustain interest through an entire CD? Yes?
It helps that the CD is only a little
over a half-hour long, and it also helps that instead of being a
pure, entirely a cappella recording, different, unusual instruments
are brought in to give the songs a tad bit of flavor - drums and a
string quartet, to be precise. Allow me to elaborate.
The leadoff track is a cover of the
Commodore's classic soul romp, "Night Shift," which begins as a
voice-only recording (with very distinctive "Hummm... Hummm..."
ensemble vocals courtesy of arranger Ben Odom), but shortly into
the number, drums are brought in.
What I found particularly attractive
about this idea is that the voices are the only tone instruments;
the voices become the "band." Instead of a bass guitar, a bass
vocal is providing the foundation. The other "guitars," as well as
"piano" and whatever other instruments one might imagine, are
provided by the tenor, alto, and soprano vocal work.
From start to finish, this collection
is rather very good, for which we can again heap a good deal of
credit on Odom and his solid arranging.
The other unusual instrumental touch
is the use of a string quartet on many of the numbers, including
Ben E. King's "Stand By Me' and Sam Cooke's "Wonderful World."
Placed alongside the voices, the quartet provides an engaging
effect. A different context is created by this arrangement
technique, and I found it very enticing and exciting, indeed.
A musical highlight of the CD for me
is the Van McCoy composition "Baby, I'm Yours," with Linda Walla
handling the lead vocal. I've always loved Walla's singing style
(when I used to go and see her front Pawnz over at the old Club
Dimensions), and she does not disappoint here. The song itself is
very infectious and Walla's vocal provides the necessary class to
put it over.
The lion's share
of the lead vocals are Henry Farag's, and some interesting song
choices, such as Louis Prima's "Banana Split" and Bill Wither's
"Lean On Me," showcase his smokey, cigarette-stained voice quite
effectively. When listening to Farag sing, it's obvious that he is
the "soul" of the group.
What
makes his style work so well in an acappella context is his tone.
It's very warm and inviting. A great example is his treatment of
Sam Cooke's "Wonderful World." Farag knows what works for him and
his choice of songs capitalizes on it.
This CD is definitely local music
worth supporting. Congratulations on a wonderful piece of work!
- Ben Likens, Midwest Beat Magazine
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