Why so few posts here lately? Blame it on senioritis.
Our son’s senior year of high school, now down to just a handful of days, has been a blur. You want to save each memory, savor each moment, but there are so many, and they come so fast.
One such moment was Wednesday night, when Evan sang in his last choir concert. A bass-baritone, he was in four groups and sang in 12 numbers. The one that might linger longest in our memories is the surprise from the ’60s.
In the program, the first number for the Concert Choir was listed as “Mission: Impossible,” arr. Emerson.
Can’t be the same song, I thought. If it was that “Mission: Impossible,” Lalo Schifrin would be listed as the composer. Can’t be a song for a choir, I thought. There aren’t any lyrics.
Oh, they sang “Mission: Impossible,” all right. They sang the Schifrin composition, “a great a cappella showcase for pop, jazz and show choirs” as arranged by Roger Emerson.
Many of the 32 members of the Concert Choir reached into their jackets and dresses and put on shades. Then they clasped their hands, pointed their index fingers and cocked their thumbs. Then the IMF team moved stealthily about the stage, mixing precise choreography with precise scat singing.
“You know,” I said to Evan after that tremendous performance, “I have several versions of that song at home.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. I even have a soundtrack LP from that show.”
But we’ve explored that here before. Here’s another cool cover, with the great Jimmy Smith giving the Hammond B-3 organ another workout.
“Mission: Impossible,” Jimmy Smith, from “Livin’ It Up!” 1968. The LP is out of print as such, but is available on a 2-on-1 CD with Smith’s 1967 “Respect” LP and digitally.
If you’re wondering what the East High performance was like, this is close. It’s from Fort Collins High School in Colorado from 2010. They also did a good job, but the East Concert Choir turned IMF team had better choreography.
Please visit our other blog, The Midnight Tracker, for more vintage vinyl, one side at a time.
AM, Then FM 