The sounds of Rockapella give ample proof that the human voice is the greatest and most diverse musical instrument. Fresh from the release of its studio album “Bang,” the five-man ensemble roars into the Hylton Center with “A Rockapella Holiday.” “The audience will hear lots of songs they know presented in a warm and fuzzy spirit but with an edge,” said spokesman Scott Leonard, who has been with Rockapella since 1991, the longest serving of the current members. “We’ll sing seasonal favorites in our own special way and a funky arrangement of ‘The Dreidel Song.’ Along with some other original compositions, there’s a brand new song for Kwanzaa.”
| IF YOU GO |
| Rockapella |
| Where: Merchant Hall, Hylton Performing Arts Center, Manassas |
| When: 8 p.m. Friday |
| Info: $28 to $44, Family Friendly tickets half price for youth through grade 12 with adult ; 888-945-2468; hyltoncenter.org |
Tenors Leonard, John K. Brown and Steven Dorian alternate the melody line backed by bass George Baldi and vocal percussionist Jeff Thacher. Thacher, the one-man rhythm section, utilizes mouth-drumming, percussive throat grunts through a throat microphone, and a host of sounds most weary mothers will command a child to stop making.
Rockapella is a favorite guest on top TV shows, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, at sporting events and in the concert hall. American TV viewers first heard the group on the PBS hit show, “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” As their popularity exploded, they released eight albums in North America and 10 in Japan and starred with Whoopi Goldberg and Denzel Washington in the HBO family series, “Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child.” Their harmonious powerhouse performances have the entire nation wanting to “Do It A Cappella.”
After discovering his mother’s big band and swing records by the Mills Brothers, the Beach Boys and the Jackson Five, Leonard understood the magic of men singing together in harmony. After singing in the high school chorus, he headed to the University of Tampa and worked part-time singing at Disney World in Orlando, Fla. That soon led to a job singing in a rock band at the Tokyo Disneyland.
“I became ensconced in the world of Japan and made an effort to learn to speak the language,” he said. “Japan became my second home. When I joined Rockapella, I’d been living in Japan and making records there. I grew up in Indiana and always wanted to go to New York. When I finally had an opportunity to travel there, I ran into an ad the very first day for a tenor with a certain style. I sang for them and joined that day. I’m still doing what I thought would be for no longer than a year.”
The latest Rockapella recording, “Bang,” plays on Leonard’s obsession with James Bond. The up-tempo title song introduces the secret agent who goes about the world getting into sticky situations. All members contributed to each of the 14 high-energy numbers, working separately and at their leisure on computers. The songs will be featured during their January theme cruise in the Caribbean, their spring tour of Europe and their summer tour of Asia with performances in Tokyo. The next recording planned for 2011 will focus on new and newly arranged Christmas songs.
“I do all the arrangements, a craft I learned in college,” Leonard said. “We have great harmony and with the vocal percussionist we utilize the contrapuntal with different melodies going off in several directions to make our unique sound.”
