Saturday - November 10, 2007    8:00pm 
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SoJam's Saturday Night Professional Showcase is truly a one-of-a-kind concert, bringing together talent from all over the world!  Since we only get one opportunity every year to bring this level of talent together, we go all out!  SoJam 2007 promises to be the most spectacular yet, with performances by the following:

Naturally 7

Naturally 7 (N7) is an all male "Vocal Play Band" that officially formed in New York City in 1999. Roger Thomas formed the group with his brother, Warren, and five other talented singers they had come to know over the years from singing around the city. Having been in and out of several traditional male groups over the years, Roger developed an affinity for a cappella sounds and a unique ability to create distinct harmony arrangements. While he was not averse to music accompaniment, he preferred the rich sound of live band instruments, rather than the soundtrack recordings that his groups would have to sing along to when a band was not available or affordable. Soon after forming Naturally 7 in 1999, the group was dealing with collective indecision about whether or not to commit to a cappella songs only, which worked for the slower songs in their repertoire, or to continue being a traditional band with instruments, which worked well for them on the up tempo selections. It was only when they were invited to sing at a major a cappella competition in New York that their choice, at least for the time being, was made for them.

They took the stage at that competition dressed in leather jackets and jeans, and perhaps the crowd was expecting their song to match their attire. But they sang a slow, inspirational song called “Blessed This House”, and to the surprise of the audience, this new group’s performance surpassed even the region’s most well known groups, and Naturally 7 won the competition. They were then flown to the nationals and at that point, they had learned a new song, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. Not only did they win the overall Best Group award, but they were also awarded the Best Arrangement award for the song. The arrangement award was perhaps the greater compliment they could have received, because the winning Simon and Garfunkel tune is as known for its musical arrangement and familiar piano licks, as it is for its famous lyrics. Riding the wave of this newfound success and still unable to decide if Naturally 7 were going to be an a cappella group or a traditional band, Roger had a novel idea: they could be both.

He remembered as a child, his brother Warren always wanted a drum set but their mother always told him no because it was just too noisy. So Warren learned to make true drum sounds, with different ways of making the kick, toms, snare, cymbals, and other drum sounds, to compensate for not having real drums to play. Roger approached Warren with the idea from their childhood, and asked if he could become the band’s drummer, so to speak, to accompany Naturally 7 on up-tempo songs. Initially Warren could only “play” for about 30 seconds at a time, so Roger developed arrangements with that consideration.  But today, the band plays two hour sets and more, Warren is still going strong, and he is always ready for every encore! The idea evolved, and the other band members found unique aspects of their own voices to determine which members would BE which instrument. After all, Roger thought, if the human voice truly was an instrument, it should not matter which instrument it needed to be. And for Naturally 7, it really didn’t matter; “Vocal Play” was born.

Duwende

No backing tracks. No drum machines. No instruments to hide behind.

Duwende (Doo-WEN-day) is six human beings on a stage with nothing between them and the audience but some microphones and monitors. Ed, Ari, Geoff, Roo, Morgan and Abbey are no glee club or barbershop chorus. They wail, they scream, they sweat. They dispose of the fluff, stripping rock music down to its most essential elements and building it back up again, using nothing but lung power and soul. The result is fiercely original, bass-and-beatbox-driven funk/pop that's unlike anything else on the music scene today. Forget everything you thought you knew about a cappella; Duwende's hard-hitting rock show must be seen to be believed.

Since 1998, the New York-based band has been playing clubs, colleges and events across the country, building a loyal following along the way. In the 2002 Independent Music World Series, the editors of Billboard Magazine chose Duwende as one of the "Top 6 Indie Acts in the Northeast." In early 2005 they were seen by millions of viewers in a television ad for the cable operator consortium 1.800.OKCable. Their music has received critical acclaim from various reviewers in print and online, and in 2005 their album "Radio Screaming" was awarded Best Pop/Rock Album and Best Pop/Rock Original Song by the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America.

Fork

When it comes to a cappella Fork has always had a few tricks up their sleeve. As the band so elegantly puts it: Fork does to a cappella what Jimi Hendrix did to guitar music and what Viagra does to a man, and they've been doing it ever since the three actors and one police man were having a cup of tea in the kitchen of an apartment in Helsinki back in 1996. (when they decided to start the band ;-)

Other a cappella groups can often be characterized as choirs who give concerts, but Fork is a band with four solo artists who put on a show. And what a show - skillful, glamorous and humorous! Once Mia Hafrén, Jonte Ramsten, Kasper Ramström and Mia Renwall take the stage they are overtaken by their alter egos - Chiq LaDesire, Miles Precious, Winston Chill and Angel d'Ville.

Once you see Fork perform, you are likely to fall in love with them. Fork walks onstage like international divas, shakes their collective booty and sings to amazing pyrotechnics. For a moment, the audience is totally astounded... only to be swept away the next moment. At Fork's gigs, both the audience and the band have fun!

The group has a diverse repertoire, and have performed songs by Bon Jovi, Michael Jackson, Robbie Williams, U2 and Kylie Minogue, just to name a few...  Their debut album, "Cover to Cover " was released in September 2005. Fork is releasing a second album in September, "Games We Play", featuring mostly original music.
 

To purchase tickets for the SoJam Saturday Night Professional Showcase, please visit the Tickets page.