Wrablers Rehearsal Notes 10.11.26
Chair: JB
Attendees: JB, WT, LS, MX, SC, ID, RS, PS, CS, MR, PV, RS
No apols! First rehearsal this term with all singers and Rob present!
Robin warmed us up in the unique style to which he and we have become accustomed … followed by a vocal warm-up by Rob.
A top-and-tail staging of the next six songs (Havana to Vox Vibe) followed. Let’s just say staging is in the early stages, and will need some consolidation on Sunday.
Havana – Apart from a false start due to a timing issue (?) this old favourite is sounding good. However, no trumpet in the closing bars. Marcus? Thought you were going to have a go?
Tourdion – Fantastique! Watch Rob for dynamics. We get to give it joyous raucousness! The song has hypnotic potential, so, remarkably we all seems to come in at the right time, do the right number of repeats and finish all together. Yay! Need to decide whether we sing whilst walking up to the stage. What did we do last time? [Will dig out recording of last gig. JB]
Africa – We sang Peter’s truncated coda version (eliminating bars 130-146 on the Set music, or the first 17 bars of the Coda on the original). Whilst it’s a huge relief to not see the ‘tricky bit’ looming ahead of you as you sing, the resulting join wasn’t as smooth as hoped. I am wondering if we could try including the ‘broken chord’ so – go from Bar 129 to Bar 144, or even go from Bar 129 to Bar 141 (Hurry boy she’s waiting…) and on to the end. Something to try on Sunday please and for Rob to assess. The rest of the song is sounding good, with the boys getting those nonsense words out clearly and in the right order!
I Got Rhythm – Coming along nicely. Needs a bit more blending/softening? Very challenging harmonies!
White Winter Hymnal – We do this well! Please note – it’s ‘I was following tha’. Pronounced the Canadian way! I heard a distinct English ‘the’ emanating from the Alto/Tenor section last night. Tsk tsk. It really does stand out in the opening layering section.
Vox Vibe – Good! Some of the men were dancing! I thought the Way oh way section still had a bug in it? And Max – our Sop 1 Bar 36 words are Bah duh, not bah doo. Jamie noticed this, bless him. We need to do the same thing. I have changed to Bah duh.
During the break we celebrated Louli being with us following her health scare. It’s good to count blessings, also with bubbly. A pause for reflection on what really matters. Friendship, community, singing!
Rhythm of Life – What a big pile of words to get out in a hurry! This is definitely one to recite over and over, in the shower, in the street, under whatever bridge… Rob is working out a flourishing piano part at the end to cover the screech emanating from the Sops at that point, er I mean ‘to help with the key change and timing’. There was no good piano part available for this song as I understand it – Peter and Rob have had to make it up. Well done guys.
Take Five – Lots more words to get out in a hurry! Our timing was better, but not impeccable! More work needed on Sunday
Dance! We sang it, and did the moves! Wendy and JB are easily thrown off the initial cka-cka. Oh dear. The singing seemed a bit ropey to me, as we’ve spent more time on the moves and become less familiar with the song’s simple structure. Easy to fix. The dance is coming along nicely. Rob and Irene, who get to watch, think it’s great! So, really as the song says – there’s no fear or shame! Thanks so Much to Marcus for patiently and persistently leading this song.
No official AOB but mentioned the usual arrangements for Sunday:
JB on coffee
Peter on croissants
Louli on milk
Robin and Phil bringing cafetières
Colin to produce the Agenda and to chair.
Usual start time is 9:45 for 10am, but for Rob, 9:30. Ha ha
Minutes by Juliana