Jerry--

That's amazing--that you have all those connections with those classic doo-wop groups--the lead singer in the 5 Satins, and you mentioned the Flamingos and even pre doo-wop classics--the Ink Spots. Just wonderful stuff--it is so great to be in a group and just be able to break into multi-part harmony in a field or on the street. I used to be in a madrigal group and we'd do that in restaurants, etc (after a Renaissance Fair for instance.)

And I noticed that a lot of my singing friends weren't getting much exercise so I started "Volleyball Not For Singers Only"--we'd play volleyball and sing madrigals and Sacred Harp between games. We weren't very good at volleyball--that's for sure--we also had players who did things like one put a deflated beach ball on his head. I always imagined we were getting some exercise. And we had some really good volleys from time to time. But we had to try to attract some good players to keep games lively. Fortunately we had a lot of friends (remember it was not for singers only)--and some of the non-madrigal people even enjoyed hearing madrigals and Sacred Harp between games (all memorized). We even tried once to sing while playing-- I AM the Rose of Sharon and the LILL-y of the Valley. We only tried it once.

Anyway, I just love all sorts of a cappella, unaccompanied or whatever anybody wants to call it--archipelago, Acapulco etc.

Hope we can do more at the Getaway this year.

And Leftydee--your sessions sound just wonderful.