vividreports: Northampton High School Music Festival

Thursday evening, we went to an event at the Northampton High School that was a bit like an event we went to at the University of Massachusetts at the end of last October. It featured four groups: the NHS Jazz Band, the NHS A Cappella Chorus, the Northamptones (a smaller a cappella group that Tamar is in) and the NHS Concert Band. It was a fun event - all the groups are pretty good, and Tamar had a solo in her group. We sat with Jerry, Julie and Max, but since we were all masked and spread out along the row, there was not a lot of interaction. We had just seen Julie and Max when they came up to our house on Tuesday (I don't think I reported on that visit here in this blog), so we had pretty much caught up on Max's news then. So this time, it was about Tamar. The Northamptones is a group that Tamar has wanted to be in for some time, but she only got in this year- her senior year. She is enjoying it, but I have the feeling that she has missed out on an earlier era when they were led by a different director that she liked a lot. But it is still special. She could have been in the NHS a capella chorus also (some of the other students are in both), and could even have been in Jazz Band too, I guess (I thought I heard Tamar say that one of the male Northamptones was in all three) but she decided against that also. Probably a wise decision. i The Northamptones sang three pieces in their set. Tamar had a solo in the first piece: Music for a Sushi Restaurant by Harry Styles. This was not music I was familiar with. Here are the lyrics: ' MUSIC FOR A SUSHI RESTAURANT Ba, ba-ba Ba-ba, ba-ba Green eyes, fried rice I could cook an egg on you Late night, game time Coffee on the stove, yeah You're sweet ice cream But you could use a Flake or two Blue bubblegum twisted 'round your tongue I don't want you to get lost I don't want you to go broke I want you It's 'cause I love you, babe In every kind of way Just a little taste Know I love you, babe Ba, ba-ba Ba-ba, ba-ba (You know I love you, babe) Ba, ba-ba Ba-ba, ba-ba Excuse me, green tea Music for a sushi restaurant From ice on rice Scuba-duba-do-boo-boo Music for a sushi restaurant Music for a sushi restaurant Music for whatever you want Scuba-duba-do-boo-boo I'm not going to get lost I'm not going to go broke Staying cool (Know I love you, babe) Ba, ba-ba Ba-ba, ba-ba (You know I love you, babe) Ba, ba-ba Ba-ba, ba-ba If the stars were edible And our hearts were never full Could we live with just a taste? Just a taste It's 'cause I love you, babe In every kind of way Just a little taste Know I love you, babe Ba, ba-ba Ba-ba, ba-ba (You know I love you, babe) Ba, ba-ba Ba-ba, ba-ba Harry Styles, who wrote the song, is under 30 and is something of a phenom, I would gather: "Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series The X Factor. Following his elimination, he was brought back to join the boy band One Direction, which went on to become one of the best-selling boy groups of all time before going on an indefinite hiatus in 2016. Styles released his self-titled debut solo album through Columbia Records in 2017. It debuted at number one in the UK and the US and was one of the world's top-ten best-selling albums of the year, while its lead single, "Sign of the Times", topped the UK Singles Chart. Styles' second album, Fine Line (2019), debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with the biggest ever first-week sales by an English male artist, and was the most recent album to be included in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2020. Its fourth single, "Watermelon Sugar", topped the US Billboard Hot 100. Featuring the chart-topping single "As It Was", Styles' third album, Harry's House (2022), was widely acclaimed and broke several records. Styles has received various accolades, including two Brit Awards, a Grammy Award, an Ivor Novello Award, and three American Music Awards. His film roles include Dunkirk (2017), Don't Worry Darling, and My Policeman (both 2022). Aside from music and acting, Styles is known for his flamboyant fashion. He is the first man to appear solo on the cover of Vogue." He is a phenom in another way too: He is the wealthiest musician in Britain under 30, with an estimated worth of $100 million.******************** Tamar sang well; she was a bit drowned out some of the time by the other singers even though she had a mic, but she came through strong on the words "Know I love you, babe." This song is on YouTube if you are interested (but not sung there by the Northamptones - maybe that will come later). The other two pieces were The Chain by Ingrid Michaelson, and White Room by Cream. Being an old fuddy-duddy, I wish these a capella groups, which are auditioned and have the best singers in them, would sing motets by Josquin and Gesualdo, which require perfect pitch in very close harmonies. The pieces the Northamptones sang did not seem particularly demanding, but they were crowd-pleasers, and definitely fun to hear.

Tamar at the mic, singing her solo

The Northamptones********************************************* Just FYI, here are lyrics for The Chain The sky looks pissed The wind talks back My bones are shifting in my skin And you my love are gone My room feels wrong The bed won't fit I cannot seem to operate And you my love are gone So glide away on soapy heels And promise not to promise anymore And if you come around again Then I will take, Then I will take the chain from off the door I'll never say that I'll never love But I don't say a lot of things And you my love are gone So glide away on soapy heels And promise not to promise anymore And if you come around again Then I will take, the chain from off the door And for White Room In the white room with black curtains near the station Black roof country, no gold pavements, tired starlings Silver horses ran down moonbeams in your dark eyes Dawn light smiles on you leaving, my contentment I'll wait in this place where the sun never shines Wait in this place where the shadows run from themselves You said no strings could secure you at the station Platform ticket, restless diesels, goodbye windows I walked into such a sad time at the station As I walked out, felt my own need just beginning I'll wait in the queue when the trains come back Lie with you where the shadows run from themselves At the party she was kindness in the hard crowd Consolation for the old wound now forgotten Yellow tigers crouched in jungles in her dark eyes She's just dressing, goodbye windows, tired starlings I'll sleep in this place with the lonely crowd Lie in the dark where the shadows run from themselves These are not happy songs. I'll try to refrain from psychoanalysing them! The other groups were good - the NHS Jazz Band and the NHS Concert Band were under the direction of Paul Kinsman; the vocal groups were led by Susan Dillard, but she stayed off stage. The Jazz Band played four pieces, the A Cappella Chorus sang five pieces, the Concert Band played four pieces and there was a finale wih everyone - bands and singers ("Give Me Love," by George Harrison). It was all done very well - again, nothing super-demanding (e.g., no Sousa Marches)- but maybe that is intentional, because you come out sounding really good. The trip down and back weather-wise could have been much worse - there had been a lot of precipitation all day, with temps hovering at 32 degrees, but it stayed above 32 the entire trip, and was just wet, not slippery. That was very fortunate!