Ben Folds High Five

Don’t underestimate the impact of “doo doo’s,” “wah wah’s” and “tra-la-la’s” in recreating and reinventing the soft pop rock and acoustic songs made popular by Nashville native Ben Folds, and the equally renowned group, Ben Folds Five over the last 15 years. Collaborating with 14 choral groups spanning the United States of America from Washington to Wisconsin, Ben Folds gets in touch with his inner Choir Master and dares to be different with his latest album release, restoring the faith in many that being part of a choir is not always synonymous with geek as 8 part harmonies, near-perfect diction and pronunciation as well as sharp beat-boxing dominates the University A Cappella record. This departure from earlier works since his decision to go solo in 2001 marks a major change from his debut release “Rockin’ the suburbs” (2001) and last release “Way to Normal” (2008) as he goes back to school to play teacher and music mentor to students who, going by their powerful, melodically smooth and soulful sound, thrive on making music as much as he does, albeit in a much different capacity compared to thrashing the piano, throwing his head and garnering audience participation to sing with him that is seen regularly in his packed concerts.

A collaboration of this nature is not new for Folds, since working with Symphony Orchestras’ throughout America on recent tours but this time; he trades the orchestra for a cappella. Replacing potent and powerful piano for mere voices has the potential to not live up to the high standard and reputation of the man Ben Fold’s himself, however innovatively capturing the balance of emotion, meaning, irony and instrumentation manifested in Fold’s tracks, University Choirs such as Greensboro’s ‘The Spartones,’ Ohio University’s ‘Leading Tones’ and The University of Chicago’s ‘Voices in your Head’ do great justice to tracks ‘Not the Same,’ ‘Brick’ and ‘Magic’ striking a chord with many hardcore Ben Fold fans around the globe as they too, get in touch with their inner baritone, tenor, alto and soprano with the album sitting comfortably at #9 on the ITunes Music Charts in the first few weeks of its release alone.

It is hard to escape the stereotyped mould that a majority of Choirs are glued to today, however Folds attempts to break that mould and despite the odd occasion when the “doo doo’s,” “wah wah’s” and “tra-la-la’s” become a tad monotonous, the beauty of Ben Fold’s latest album release is the great range of audiences it can appeal to, including your own Grandma, if you minus the mild profanity or two. Consider the geek mentality associated with Choirs dispelled, if only all could collaborate with Mr. Folds.