Ricardo and In Flagrante met for the first time. We had a big turn out to welcome him.
Ricardo has vast experience, including leading choirs, but he is not used to having lady tenors and will try and stop calling them gentlemen!
We did a warm up with a fascinating singing up and down the scales with, “Chicken tikka, mango chutney and a pint of lager; naan and pilau rice!”
Ricardo then heard us really sing for the first time with our rendition of Time After Time, which was reasonably well received. This was followed by The Rhythm of Life, which, as Ricardo said, “We got to the end!” Definitely a little more work on this one next week!
Monday Monday was next. It is a 1966 song written by John Phillips (he said that he wrote the song quickly, in about 20 minutes) and recorded by the Mamas & the Papas, using background instruments played by members of the Wrecking Crew.
It was the first time in history a song by a mixed gender group reached the top of the charts.
On March 2, 1967, the Mamas & the Papas won a Grammy Award for this song, in the category Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
This song has a tricky rhythm and lots of syncopation. And yes, sopranos have the dreaded ‘Ooohs’ and there is no easy way to get the first note!
Sing loud and proud, even if you’re wrong. That way you will learn to sing it correctly!
We’re getting there and it will be ok!
After the break we attempted a classical musical theatre song, Fascinating Rhythm a popular song written by George Gershwin in 1924 with lyrics by Ira Gershwin.
It was first introduced by Cliff Edwards, Fred Astaire and Adele Astaire in the Broadway musical Lady Be Good.
Many recorded versions exist. One of the rarest recordings is by Joe Bari (a pseudonym of Anthony Dominick Benedetto, later better known as Tony Bennett) for Leslie Records in 1949.
Fascinating Rhythm inspired the riff to the 1974 Deep Purple song, Burn.
We all started singing the same tune as it is identical for the first 12 bars, then we split into our different voices. It does have a fascinating rhythm and once we learn the first sections, it will be repeated throughout.
The tracks are in Dropbox, so now we are familiar with the fascinating rhythm we can practice at home ready to impress next week.