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From left to right: Kevin Wright, John Brown, Scott Leonard, George Baldi and Jeff Thacher, the members of Rockapella. Rockapella sings about anything and everything, according to Leonard; this included many popular commercial jingles at their Friday night show.

From Almond Joy to Carmen Sandiego

Rockapella brings variety to a cappella

By: John Bailey

Posted: 11/10/08

"We'll sing about anything," said Scott Leonard, Rockapella's high tenor, at the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts Friday night. "And I mean anything."

Leonard then led the vocal group in a mock "Preparation H" commercial jingle. The five men also crooned their way through some real commercial tunes of theirs - including the famous "Folgers" coffee jingle.

What's the verdict - is Rockapella a group of corporate sell-outs or talented, enterprising artists?

When the crowd reacts the way they did on Friday night, does it really matter?

"It was amazing - [I loved] all of it, all their voices," said Mercedes Howard, a 5th-semester French major. "I'm in a dream state right now. They dazzled me."

Rockapella took the audience through a tour of their discography, both original compositions and covers, ranging from their very first album - a cover of The Hollies' "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress " - to 2002's "Smilin'" - to their original "Dance With Me."

And, for the most part, they brought the house down. Drawing from R&B, jazz, soul and funk, their smooth vocal harmonies and energetic charm kept the audience clapping, laughing and singing along. Their sound was complemented by the confident beats of Jeff Thatcher - "The kind of vocal percussion in the globe of Earth," Leonard said.

Aided by projection screens imitating a wobbly sunset, "Rockapella" aimed to provide a shot of summer in the increasingly chilly Storrs weather - sand, sun and soul were the watchwords of the night. At one point, the group invited a member of the audience - "Jennifer" - to come on stage and weather the full force of their crooning.

"I was totally jealous of Jennifer," said Valerie Herstatt, a senior at Central Connecticut State University. "Best part of the night? Slowly getting over my jealousy."

The heat was turned up substantially when bass George Baldi stole the show with a rendition of The Temptations' "Papa Was A Rolling Stone." Judging from the audience reaction, Baldi grabbed the strongest moments of the night - from his rumbling "creamy dark chocolate" in the "Almond Joy" jingle to an adorable story about his voice coach.

Rockapella shone at other times, too, with a strong performance by tenor John Brown in "Stand By Me," a frenetic vocal percussion solo from Thatcher and, of course, a raucously received "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"

Not every moment was golden, unfortunately. While Rockapella's singing shone, the night dragged noticeably during their between-song banter, with a few misfired jokes.

"I hear the guys around Storrs like to wear Speedos at the beach - what's up with that?" and long-winded stories that outlasted the crowd's energy.

And, though the performance was usually spot-on, there were a few holes. Leonard flubbed a few phrase endings, turning some notes into awkward yelps, and the group's dancing occasionally felt barely controlled: they all looked good individually, but not necessarily together.

Missteps aside, Rockapella's performance was entertaining - and to some, it was even more: "It's because of them that I love a cappella," said Aggrey Ambenge, a 5th-semester economics major. "I like to see them live and performing. It brings tears to your eyes - it's beautiful and majestic."

The group performed a second show on Saturday night.