Audio Beaverhausen: The Salvatones' Wonderful World

What a wonderful cd to listen to Christmas night!

On my last post, I discussed seeing and hearing The Salvatones live at St. Peter's Cathedral NYC. I left with this much more secular cd, nonetheless filled with beautiful accapella renditions that soothe the soul.

Wonderful World is is a winter's marsh-mellow, New Age-styled recording. of heavenly voices covering songs that range from "Sidewalks of New York" (who the hell was Mamie O'Roarke?) to the titular song made famous by Louis Armstrong.

There are a few non-English numbers, two Kurt Weill numbers from his New York era ("Lost in the Stars" and "My Ship"), the uplifting "Fields of Gold" and even "Lullaby of Broadway."

There's not a misfire on this disc. Somewhere between Enya and Manhattan Transfer, The Salvatones have their own distinct style. Highly recommended to lovers of choral voices and inspirational singing for the winter 2014-15.

EXCLUSIVE Q&A with The Salvatones Part 2

Since my interview with Sal & Daniel of The Salvatones ran too long for a single post, here is Part 2. I didn't care to further edit this vivacious and thoroughly enjoyable Q&A that was such a pleasure for me to do. I may have to do more live interviews, though I doubt many could be as much fun as this one was.

DBB: How will you each spend your Christmas Day?
DB: At St. Patrick's Cathedral where I am Associate Music Director. I'll play again after going home to crash on Christmas Eve.
SD: And I'll be in that choir.
DBB: Great, reserve me a seat in a pew at St. Pat's!

DBB: What kind of music did you listen to growing up.
SD: Another good question. I had a lot of eclectic influences and that manifests itself in concert. I studied classical but loved pop stuff on the radio. Madonna, The Police.
DB: Petula Clark, Edith Piaf, Beethoven, Beatles, disco, Duke Ellington, Nina Simone, Tina Turner all heard around our house while growing up in France. A lot of American influences.

DBB: When not performing, what do you guys do to relax?
DB: I don't know because music is my life, working and relaxing.
SD: Reading! Fiction, non-fiction, it's a nice way to relax. And I love to cook.

DBB: The best experience for The Salvatones? And the worst?
SD: The best was definitely two years ago at a summit exchange concert, performing along with a Dutch vocal group. It motivated we Salvatones in terms of both our physical stage presence and our sound. It was definitely validation that we were moving in the right direction professionally and artistically.
DB: We were on the right track. The Salvatones were borne by accident, not planning. Frankly, I loved all our experiences and even the rehearsals.
SB: I enjoy that we're in such a close environment working as a group.
DB: Of course, I did have a problem with a vocalist once. After giving her direction, she told me. "I don't agree with you...."
DBB: Ouch! Cheeky.
DB: Yeah, it was a little shocking to me. I told her, "You don't have to agree, you only need to do as you're directed." That was her last gig with us.

DBB: Thank you guys! Terrific interview. So nice to meet and talk to you. I'll be sure to get your new cd and be at your concert in December!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Salvatones/130859726976390?ref=ts&fref=ts

EXCLUSIVE Q&A with The Salvatones Part 1

This Q&A was my first done live. I thoroughly enjoyed this as Sal and Daniel of the Salvatones were such personable persons and our interview was great fun. We were thrown out of PJ Clark's, where I intended to conduct the interview (well, not really, but you can't have a table there and order only coffee). So, we ended up at Toasties across the street, on the upper east side, which the guys liked and so did I. An auspiciously down-to-earth environment for a couple of down-to-earth guys, the founders of The Salvatones. The final edit I did was too long for one post, so I've split it into two parts. The Salvatones' The Many Sounds of Christmas will be performed on December 21st and 22nd at historic St. Peter's Church.

Dj Buddy Beaverhausen: You're both so much younger than I expected! Do you mind if I ask how old you are?
Salvatore Diana: 39.
Daniel Brondel: 44, actually, so we're middle-aged.
DBB: Daniel, do I detect a European accent?
DB: Yes, I was born and raised in France.

DBB: Holiday season's upon us and, with it, The Many Sounds of Christmas. What can you tell us about your show?
DB: As the title implies, it's a concert with different manifestations of Christmas music also featuring organ, a string orchestra along with our vocal ensemble.
SD: There are so few downtown offerings in lower Manhattan, so this is something unique.
DB: Something fresh and new downtown.
SD: Which is experiencing a major housing and business boom right now, so it's a perfect time for our show.

DBB: I understand your first cd is also about to be released.
SD: "Wonderful World" is the title of it. We cover that classic Louis Armstrong song on it in a totally fresh, new style. The album captures all our signature repertoire with something for the holidays. All things classical, jazzy and songs about New York City (arranged by Daniel). He reconstructed "Sidewalks of New York...."
DB: There's currently no sheet music...
SD:  Reconstructed it from an existing NYC Public Library copy of the refrain and listened to various singers throughout the 1920s-40s and arranged the whole thing for acapella choir.
DB: It's eclectic and a perfect introduction to the group. All of our singers are classically trained.

DBB: When and how did your group come together?
SD: It was founded by Daniel and I. My day job is creative director at an ad agency. My boss was looking for a small vocal group and I pulled one together. I needed to name it, expecting it would be a one-night thing.
DB: We had such a blast, we decided to keep doing this.
SD: This was all about five years ago. And we had such positive feedback, we decided to bring in a few more singers and build our repertoire. This year, we became a non-profit organization.
DB: Ours was a creative experiment to cross the barrier that makes classical a niche market.
SD: We've also, partnered with other ensembles. Like, this year, the string orchestra.

DBB: You also do private parties and corporate events. How does the experience of performing at these various functions onstage differ from being in concert?
DB: Good question. It depends on the event, I think. For example, we sang at two weddings where we were to be heard but not seen.
SD: Trying to create an experience, not to star at these events.
DB: Music has so many different functions in our lives.

[More to come in Part 2. Not to be missed!]