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Music Lane It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes. |
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Music Lane It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes. |
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For the second time in four years, my wife and I attended a concert of the Navy Sea Chanters. Four years ago, they were good. Now, they're much better.Bottom Line Up Front: Follow the link, find when they'll be in your town, and see them!
The Sea Chanters are a group of about a dozen Navy enlisted singers backed by a bass player, a drummer, and a keyboardist. Based in Washington, D.C., they spend part of the Spring and Summer touring. The concerts are free, and they hope to use the events for recruiting.
Based on the average age of last night's audience, that strategem is a failure. It was the only part of the concert that failed.
This group is Talented (yup, with a capital 'T'). The sang a wide variety of songs, including Cole Porter, Freddie Mercury(!), the Andrews Sisters (Boogie Woogie Bugler Boy, to misuse an expression, rocked).
They sang the obligatory National Anthem and an anthology of the Services' hymns (the Navy's is the best piece of music, and that's an Air Force guy talking), and even a bit of opera (a scene from Die Fliedermaus).
No piece was bad and some were absolutely first rate. The three women who dressed in World War II-era uniforms for the Andrews Sisters tribute did them justice. They didn't sing quite as fast or with quite as much energy as the Sisters, but they sang together, in tune, and musically.
Two soloists stood out. The sole black in the group, with a voice that reaches down into the watery depths, had three well-deserved solos. What a voice! Expressive, perfectly pitched, range, dynamics--this guy should be in Las Vegas and on CDs (or better yet, SACDs).
There was also a short tenor who, along with a Soprano doing support, absolutely nailed "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." Yeah, it's a silly song, but silly done that well is great.
The Navy Sea Chanters performed in an old church replete with flying buttresses. It is large, but not huge, and is a very good acoustic space. On the down side, the Navy sprang for what looks like an expensive sound board and chep, lousy-sounding PA speakers. It was a bit like listening over AM radio. (Sigh.)
The Navy's concerts are all free, and the musicians are terrific. Follow the link, learn when they're coming to your neck of the woods, and attend!
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Topic - Review: Navy Sea Chanters - lipmanl 11:52:04 04/30/07 (0)
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