There were several MHBQA-member quartets performing on the 2004 Mixed Harmony Showcase at the International Convention of the Men's Barbershop Harmony Society (SPEBSQSA), held in Louisville, Kentucky. This show has become an annual tradition, planned and run by MHBQA VLQ Friends under the sponsorship of the Society. (MHBQA itself is not involved.) While not really a showcase of barbershop singing, much of what is sung each year is within a broad interpretation of the "barbershop style." The Showcase certainly is a good example of how entertaining a mixed group can be! Each year there are different quartets and groups available to sing, depending on the location of the convention. In some years, few groups are voiced as MHBQA recommends (male bass and lead, singing in the men's range), so there are difficulties to overcome in achieving a barbershop sound. Wisely, producer and MHBQA member Doug Miller selects groups which have the best overall sound and entertainment. He figures that we will hear enough "pure" barbershop the rest of the Convention week. Usually the groups performing have wisely chosen to sing arrangements appropriate to their voicing, leaning more toward an a cappella SATB with jazz and barbershop overtones. This year there was a lot of barbershop experience and expertise packed into those groups, and they took advantage of it. This year's Mixed Harmony Showcase had groups close enough to barbershop for all but the purists to enjoy... I certainly did!
First on the bill was Vocal Montage. Coming from the AIC show, your "reporter" was not in time to hear them, but reports were favorable. They are a group of six... obviously not barbershop. Next was Heart to Heart, a non-MHBQA quartet from the Milwaukee, WI, area; they put on an entertaining set. I'd just arrived, so I have no notes on what they sang, but their enthusiasm was contagious. Part of their set was done sitting on stools, very effectively.
Following them was Celebration, MHBQA quartet from Iowa, with a dynamite package. Trudie Greiner, Jayne Morden, Ron Morden and Cecil Goettsch opened with one of their signature songs, Shoofly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy. They followed with Java Jive and Play That Crazy Little Song Again, complete with inserted fun bits of vaudeville patter. Then Trudie let loose with I'm Just a Renaissance Woman Living in a Diet Coke World. That was followed by Jane's solo on Wind Beneath My Wings - all four blended their supported super-softs until they had the listeners on the edge of their chairs. Celebration finished up with another of their signature songs, Orange-Colored Sky. They had fun every moment they were onstage, and shared that visually with their audience.
Next onstage was MHBQA quartet Rendezvous, from the Chicago area, with their usual sparkling package. Opening with It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing), Lynda Keever, Jennifer Schwarz, Mark Keever and Andy Isbell segued rapidly through Jeepers Creepers and So Wrong. Mark Keever was doing double duty at this convention: his quartet, Alchemy, competed and made the cut as mic-testers...for the following morning... yet Mark was in full swing on this show at midnight! Rendezvous gave us an entertaining finale with their demo of styling, singing Down in Birdland in the Manhattan Transfer sound, the Real Group (Sweden) sound, a Country and Western sound (a la Elvira), plus as it would sound as a radio jingle, in the Four Freshmen style, and Southern Gospel style.
The show was closed, as always, by a high-energy performance from the MHBQA VLQ Friends. A bit of their history was shared with the audience: they started singing together in Hawaii in 1987 at the Sweet Adelines International Convention there. Four of the competing ladies from the Minneapolis area were accompanied by their husbands; the four couples began singing together to fill some spare hours. Of course, we know that the husbands were some pretty seasoned SPEBS singers, so with all that experience it was bound to be a success. They have continued, sometimes changing a couple or two, but always being "friends." Their enjoyment of each other showed in their performance this year as they began with Java Jive and then lit into I'm Beginning to See the Light. All of their songs were unacompanied this year! Then followed an absolutely gorgeous rendition of One Voice, which left the audience breathless. Tom Gentry's 8-part arrangement of With Two Wings was followed by a Beattles song, I Believe in Yesterday. While performing, this group sometimes breaks up into smaller groups, which then interact with each other. This is an awesome performing group, with every single person totally involved in the song and showing it in their face and body language. And they do it all without a director! Friends ended the evening with a rousing rendition of the gospel song, When I Lift Up My Head.