At a time when the chart-busters of The Four Seasons are enjoying a resurgence due to the hit Broadway show, Jersey Boys, cabaret’s popular five-man vocal group, Uptown Express, pulls out a project so inspired it makes one wonder why no one has thought of doing a jazzy album of some of these hip, memorable pop/retro hits sooner. Not that anyone needs proof of boy groups’ popularity through the years. From the 1920s’ Mills Brothers to today’s flavor of the month teeny-bopper heartthrobs, The Jonas Brothers, the popularity of dynamic boy groups singing in perfect harmony speaks for itself—as do the merits of this exciting new disc.

Guided by extraordinary musical director James Followell, Uptown Express outdo themselves with imaginative arrangements, like turning k.d. lang’s “Constant Craving,” with baritone Alex Goro’s smoky vocals, from a lovelorn wail into a dreamy ballad, and infusing Cole Porter’s driving “It’s All Right with Me” into a rhythmically charged, finger-snapping reading that holds its own against other previously recorded versions of this swing ditty. (The Porter tune is a bonus track recorded a few years ago by a different configuraton of Uptown Express.) An “icon” medley is a serious highlight. The five voices in this group are all top notch on this group, which is an offshoot of The NYC Gay Men’s Chorus and perform under the umbrella of Big Apple Performing Arts. The gifted group consists of Aldrin Arche, Christopher Caswell, John DePalma, Alex Goro and Brad Parks.

John Hoglund
Cabaret Scenes
September 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org