I already loved Acoustix, but it's just not that often that I get a hankering for straight-up barbershop a la World War II medleys. But this album, I can tell, I will play again and again. What I love most is the variety on this album, and the the way Acoustix will be singing along in a jazz arrangement, then glide into a few barbershop chords to die for. Their song choices include many of my favorite standards. And I actually also really like the big band that backs up several numbers.
Instrumentation is kept to a minimum.
And when they use it, it's truly first class. The title track and its fellows instead feature a swingy, brassy big band that makes me want to close my eyes and lean back at a table at some classy outdoor cafe. But the music at classy outdoor cafes never has enough pieces to get the same effect. Sorry to gush. But after a half-dozen collegiate discs of varying mediocrity, it's tough not to get excited about a disc that oozes professionalism on every front.