BRATTLEBORO — The Soubrettes will present a concert on Sunday, June 13, at 4 p.m. on a popular meeting platform (un-named here to deter “bombing”) and Facebook Live.
Based at the Vermont Jazz Center, the singing ensemble, directed by Anna Patton, specializes in close-harmony arrangements of swing, jazz, blues, and songs by contemporary songwriters.
“Soubrette” is a musical theater term for the non-leading lady who is usually funnier, more worldly, and more instrumental to plot intrigue than the lead. “The choir seeks out these kinds of Soubrette-like songs and performs them with syncopation, panache, and wonderfully crunchy harmonies,” as described in a news release.
In a year in which its members couldn't perform as usual, they chose to revisit some favorite songs from the choir's 12-year history and create a remotely recorded album to be released in the fall.
The concert will feature these never-before-heard rough mixes. Arranged for four parts by Patton, the songs include ones by Irving Berlin, Carsie Blanton, Mose Allison, and Kris Delmhorst as well as Patton's arrangements based on performances by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, McCoy Tyner, and Cécile McLorin Salvant.
Some of Vermont's finest instrumentalists joined Patton in creating the accompaniment tracks, including Will Patton, Eugene Uman, and Dono Schabner.
“There will also be moments of live audio, music videos, and a few of the group's favorite short jokes,” the event's organizers promise.
In a show of resiliency and ingenuity due to the past year's restrictions, the choir rehearsed completely online and recorded individually, mostly by showing up one at a time to Patton's porch where mic and headphone cables dangled from her second-story home-office window.
Sometimes multiple takes were required due to various interruptions unheard in a normal recording studio, such as a neighbor's leaf blower, wind and weather, or a woodpecker's rat-a-tatting out of rhythm to the song.
Patton then compiled all the individual recordings and did the mixing of all the separate vocals and instruments.