Civic Music Association’s centennial season invites a wide array of musicians to Des Moines, and this past weekend they ushered in the holiday season at Staplin Performing Arts Center with a festive performance of “The Sounds of the Season” by the jazz vocal group, New York Voices.
The holiday tone was set before the concert even began with cocoa at the concessions and the Heartland Youth Choir caroling in the lobby. By the time the audience found their seats, the chill outside was already forgotten.
New York Voices consists of four vocalists who have been performing together for nearly four decades — Darmon Meader, Peter Eldridge, Lauren Kinhan and Kim Nazarian, backed by a three piece band whose names were unfortunately not listed in the program. Both Meader and Eldridge demonstrated their own instrumental skills briefly, saxophone and piano respectively, and Meader also wrote the vocal arrangements for nearly all the songs on the program.
The quartet kicked off the evening with an acapella rendition of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” a surprisingly traditional opening number. The rest of their program featured holiday classics intermingled with jazz standards appropriate for any season. The variety was a wise decision and avoided a monotonous marathon of Christmas music.
Some highlights from the program included an energetic rendition of “Blue Rondo ala Turk” by Dave Brubeck, international numbers like “Madalena” by Ignacio Cervantes and “Aqui, Oh!” by Tonihno Horta, and a lighthearted mashup of holiday classics “The Christmas Song” and “Christmas Time is Here.”
All four vocalists were constantly on the move as the evening progressed, and I often found their antics distracting. My gaze kept wandering to singers dancing off to the side of the stage when the instrumentalists were given a chance to shine, and while this was unintentional, it was far too frequent. Surprisingly, the program only featured one song with actual dance choreography.
While the quartet often lacked vocal precision and balance, their enthusiasm was undeniable. The singers interacted with the audience throughout the evening, cracking jokes and encouraging participation for certain numbers. This easy rapport earned them enough applause to garner an encore of “Silent Night” at the end of the evening which was blessedly brief.
After the performance, New York Voices welcomed the audience to the lobby to meet the performers and purchase their albums, one last warm invitation before the crowd dispersed to brave the winter cold.
