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No Comments [ Add Comment ]Original Rockapella reunites in Ogden
By LINDA EAST BRADYBarry Carl is probably one of the best-known bass voices in a cappella music. He was featured in Rockapella during its big gig on the geography quiz show "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?"
And last year, T Minus Five asked the low-toned Carl to emcee A Cappellastock 2007. He thought it was so much fun, he wanted to come back and sing with the guys he hit it big with almost 20 years past.
"I love singing," said Carl, calling from New York. "And I enjoy singing with them (Sean Altman, Steve Keyes and Elliott Kerman). It is a good excuse to do that."
Members of the group, who had gone their separate ways, did have one A Cappellastock warm-up gig a few weeks back, at a club in New York City. All ages came to the event, said Carl.
"We got together the day before the gig and sang for a few hours," he said. "And it was like we had never been apart."
In tune
The big challenge now, as always with a cappella singing, is staying in tune with everyone.
"Everybody is always making little, tiny adjustments, all the time, when you sing," said Carl. "The magic is getting people who do what they do very well and getting them to also listen to you at the same time. It's a bit like a Vulcan mind meld, I guess."
Though it is all about the voice, there is no verbal communication. That comes through harmony and body language.
"At rehearsal, when you are trying to exchange musical ideas, there's a lot of nonverbal stuff going on," Carl said. "It is like a string quartet that way -- no conductor, just some sort of consensus to interpretation, and not a whole lot to hide behind.
"It's amazing to be communicating with three other guys on a nonverbal, musical level," he said.
Real rock vocals
XRP members got their break with a 1990 appearance on Spike Lee's PBS television special, "Spike & Co.: Do It A Cappella." That appearance led to their five-year house band gig with "Carmen Sandiego."
But the original members went their separate ways, even as others continued to sing under the Rockapella name.
But the real McCoy, said Carl, will sing in Ogden on Saturday.
Said Carl: "And it came back so quickly to us. It was so easy and so pleasurable. Everybody has kept their voice together -- everybody still sings, and they all have great voices. We got together and it was like we'd still sung together all these years.
"If it was going to be hard work for us, this probably wouldn't happen," he added. "No one wanted to work that hard now. It was more like putting back something together pretty polished already."
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