VOCAL SAMPLING

Who? What? No, never heard of them. Those were some of the responses to the question, ‘Have you heard of Vocal Sampling?'

Well my dears, if you count yourselves among those answering in the negative, please pay close attention. You won’t want to forget this name.

Baird Auditorium in the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum was the site of a wondrous performance on Monday, June 16, 1998. Vocal Sampling is a six-man team of young Cubans who magically turn their voices into the sounds of musical instruments.

They take a song, complete with lyrics, and not only sing it but ad the instrumentation via vocalization and presto – your ears imagine a band is accompanying the singers.

One member of the group imitates the bass, another percussion instruments, while another "plays" guitar, and two mimic the sounds of trumpet and trombone. From time to time, whistling provides the sound of a flute. The men’s vocal cords and claps furnish fine background music for the singers who perform a variety of music from Cuba. Some of the offerings were original compositions and others well known traditional tunes.

The audience was thrilled by the performance as evidenced by the numerous standing ovations and bouts of applause in response to particular solos throughout the show. Those in attendance enthusiastically responded to ReneĽ Banos' request to divide the audience in order to "sing" trumpet and trombone parts. The horn riffs became increasingly complicated but the audience made an admirable effort to keep up.

At one point the group performed the prelude to the 2001 Space Odyssey theme. Those six men produced the sound of what seemed to be an entire symphonic orchestra. Needless to say the audience was delighted and amazed. You had to hear it to believe it.

Vocal Sampling electrified. People rocked in their seats with huge smiles on their faces. The predominant sound of a Salsa band inspired some to take to the isles to satisfy their feet, itching to dance. Toward the end of the show, audience members were called to the stage to take over the vocalization and relieve the artists for a brief, but fun moment. We wanted more and more but too soon the show was over. The encore tune, Que Bueno Baila Usted gave us a final fix for the road.

Perhaps the citizens of the Washington, DC metropolitan area will not have the opportunity to see Vocal Sampling in so intimate a venue as the Baird Auditorium the next time they appear in our area. Inevitably small concert halls will not be able to accommodate Vocal Sampling’s public for much longer.

Word of mouth is a powerful communication tool and you can be sure the word is spreading. When word is they’re back in town, go to the show and be amazed and thrilled.