Thomas J. West Music

Close harmony singing is a personal joy of mine - one that I have been actively engaged in on and off for the past 20 years. Over the past three years, I have made a return to contemporary a cappella singing after a long haitus. Coming back to a cappella in the age of Social Media has brought me all sorts of new access to groups and fellow enthusiasts that I have never had before. I mean, seriously - I'm Facebook friends with people like Barry Carl from Rockapella and I'm talking to members of The Swingle Singers on Twitter.

This is the Swingle Singers' latest music video. It is a charming and poignant setting of the classic Christmas carol "O Come, O Come Emmanuel". The introduction depicts a walk through a snowy field with the winter wind blowing - all done with the human voice. The setting itself arranged by group member Clare Wheeler features tight contemporary harmonies that are my favorite musical sounds. I am a huge fan of the legendary Singers Unlimited, and this arrangement definitely has the influence of Gene Puerling floating among its harmonic and phrasing choices.

Watch on YouTube

This article (c) 2011 Thomas J. West. All content on ThomasJWestMusic dot com is licensed under a Creative Contributions Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Please contact the author before publishing on or off-line.

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