CASA - The Contemporary A Capella Society

Despite what Stephen Saxon jokingly said about the group featuring songs of the first half of the 20th century, the set included a fascinating arrangement by tenor Eric Freeman of the Radiohead song Creep, minus the foul language. The dynamics in this tune varied from breathy contemplation to top-of-the-lungs belting.

Each singer had a turn as soloist and all are strong singers. The crowd-pleaser by far was the charming Rhode Island is Famous for You, with soprano Angie Doctor taking the lead to sing to a native Rhode Islander in the front row. The majority of the tunes they sang that night appear on their new album Tesseract, available in May.
Clockwork came into being when the five musicians, all in Berkeleys Pacific Mozart Choir, decided to join forces to try out their own material and sound. Angie Doctor and John Paddock are also founding members of the Grammy-nominated vocal sextet, The P.M. Singers. The five were fortunate to find the right balance of personalities. They love to perform together and make decisions easily as a group. All of them contribute to the arrangements, which have become so prolific that they already have enough songs for a third album before their second has even been released.  A cappella enthusiasts may have seen them at the 2004 Harmony Sweeps, where they took first-runner up. Baseball enthusiasts may have heard them performing their own arrangement of the Star-Spangled Banner at a Giants or As game. Look for them again this season.
In between numbers, Clockwork made the crowd laugh with quirky introductions. Baritone Jim Hale introduced Soul of a Poet, Mind of a CPA with wonderful deadpan delivery. And everyone in the audience was trying to remember Saxons line If you enjoyed the show half as much as we did, then we enjoyed it twice as much as you. People around me smiled throughout the performance. So Clockwork sure must have had a great time on stage.
The headliner of the evening, The Idea of North, was impressive the moment they stepped on stage. Polished looks, choreography and stage-presence gave away this young groups experience. They have performed all over the world for the past 12 years, yet this was only their second billed concert in California. Hopefully its not their last.
They began their set with No More Blues a jazzy arrangement by alto Naomi Crellin, who joined the group in 2002. It features a lively vocalese in the middle co-written by tenor Nick Begbie to a Lalo Schifrin piano solo from the album Dizzy live in the Riviera. The song also begins their most recent album Evidence, a very listenable, well-produced collection that won 'Best Jazz CD' at the 2005 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards.
Mas Que Nada was memorable as was the challenging, syncopated Evidence, the title song to their album, which is an ode to Thelonius Monk.
Though Jazz numbers dominated the nights song list, The Idea of Norths set featured the diversity of style that has won them a loyal following in Australia and recently made teenagers howl and bombard them for autographs in Taiwan. Pop, gospel, soul, song parodies and originals all pleased the audience at the Freight. The groups arrangement of Stings In Fields of Gold crescendoed in beautiful chords then wound down in a lovely denouement to a single tenor voice. The gospel original Prayer for Peace by soprano Trish Delaney-Brown was mesmerizing. Trish won the title of Songwriter of the Year by the Australian Songwriting Association in 2004. Did I mention this group was talented?

The crowd had a good laugh when tenor Nick took the lead to parody Blue Bayou, singing about a mans toupee that blew by you. However, no musical quality was lost for the sake of comedy. Parents in the audience thought about calling the baby-sitter after hearing Bass Andrew Pipers rendition of Isnt She Lovely. Dedicating the song to his daughter, Andrew offered to show the audience the pictures of her he had in his wallet. Everyone enjoyed the audience participation, singing in three parts near the end of the tune. The first encore of Aretha Franklins Since Youve Been Gone brought the house to their feet for the first of two standing ovations.
Like Clockwork, the four Aussies came to the group with formal musical training--the Canberra School of Music and the Elder Conservatorium of Music (Adelaide)--and treasure their musicianship above all. All four create arrangements as well as some originals for the group and take turns as featured soloists. All have their own appeal: the tenor Nick is charismatic; Alto Naomis voice rings clear; Soprano Trish sings with great passion; and bass/vocal percussionist Andrew is absolutely steady.

Through the entire performance, the groups blend was water-tight; their pitch was perfect; their sound was precise. As a matter of fact, one of the jazz greats they asked to critique them lately suggested they loosen up. But even that they did with perfection. Their arrangement of Jackie featured jazz improvisations in which they took amazing chances and created exciting sounds with never a discord.
Clockwork and The Idea of North met at the 2004 Harmony Sweepstakes, where they established a warm bond of respect and friendship. Clockwork bass, Stephen Saxon had the idea of the double-bill and contacted the group last November. Hearing that the Australians were scheduled to be in town this spring on an educational tour, Saxon arranged the performances at the Freight and at the Cayuga Vault in Santa Cruz Saturday night.
Courtesy of an overseas study grant awarded them by the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust, The Idea of North has been traveling the globe to meet and study with some of the greatest contemporary jazz vocalists and arrangers of our time: The New York Voices, vocal arranger extraordinaire Gene Puerling, Jazz artist John Worley, Cheryl Bentyne of Manhattan Transfer and Wes Carroll of the House Jacks, to name a few. As a result, The Idea of North has made some fans amongst their mentors. Attending the performance in Berkeley were Tuck and Patti and Gene Puerling. Gene mustve enjoyed the groups second encore, his arrangement of Brahams Lullaby, which he recently encouraged them to add to their repertoire. The smooth performance of it brought the group their second standing ovation.
Winners of the 2003 Harmony Sweepstakes, Primarily A Cappella declares The Idea of North to be one of the finest Contemporary/Jazz groups in the world. They rank with Manhattan Transfer as jazz vocalists. In their own country, they have been compared to Abba, a great compliment given the popularity of the Swedish group Down Under. Already popular with American a cappella fans in the know, jazz fans and jazz festival goers have a real treat coming when they discover The Idea of North.

And paired with Clockwork, the result is an evening of inspiration, musical passion and talent.

For more information about Clockwork or to order their albums, go to www.clockworksingers.com.

For more information about The Idea of North or to order their albums, go to www.idea.com.au.
Linda A. Hamilton is a member of East Bay Harmony and a writer in Oakland, CA.