Rare Silk
Encyclopedia
Rare Silk was an American
jazz
vocal group. Consisting of the band members Gaile Gillaspie, Marylynn Gillaspie, Todd Buffa and Marguerite Juenemann (replaced by Barbara Reeves, and later Jamie Broumas
), they started out as a swing-oriented group in the vein of The Pied Pipers
and (even with the inclusion of a male member) The Andrews Sisters
. They appeared with Benny Goodman
at the 1980 Playboy Jazz Festival.
During the next few years, the ensemble modernized their style to include both bop and funkier material, recording for Polydor Records
(1982) and Palo Alto Records
(1985–86); most notable were their versions of "New York Afternoon," "Red Clay" and "Spain." However, Rare Silk eventually broke up towards the end of the 1980s.
Rare Silk began in 1978 as a 3-part harmony vocal group, much in the style of the Boswell Sisters. Their inception coincided with the beginning of local radio station KGNU. For several months, they created a weekly 15 minute local access radio show, which allowed them to build a repertoire. They met the great Benny Goodman by opening for him at Mackey Auditorium in Boulder. Mr. Goodman immediately took to the 3 women's vocal stylings and asked them to go on tour with him. Their first gig was at the Boston Globe Jazz Festival and was live broadcast on PBS. The tour included dates at Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and a week in Japan at the Aurex Jazz Festival. After their tour with Benny, they were joined by male vocalist Todd Buffa and began restyling their approach to a more modern 4-part harmony sound. They were soon discovered by a Polygram scout and recorded their first album, 'New Weave' in 1983. This album was nominated for 2 Grammys and reached #2 on the Billboard Jazz charts.
From Jim Meredith:
Had I been a member of the vocal group Rare Silk, I wonder if I'd have grown tired of hearing fans tell me, “Hey, you remind me of the Manhattan Transfer.” Perhaps such comparisons were inevitable. Judging by the Downbeat magazine annual readers' polls results, the Manhattan Transfer and Rare Silk were widely regarded as the top two vocal groups through most of the 1980's. Yet, to my ears, Rare Silk always seemed a little more intent upon establishing their clear identity as a jazz vocal group. On NEW WEAVE, the group's first record, they draw more heavily from the instrumental jazz repertoire than was the case with most of the 1980's Manhattan Transfer records. “Red Clay” [with Mark Murphy's lyrics], “Lush Life,” “Sugar,” “Spain” [with Al Jarreau's lyrics], and compositions by saxophonists Richie Cole, Gerry Niewood, and Eddie Harris are all to be found on Rare Silk's
NEW WEAVE. Comparisons with Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross seem not at all inappropriate. Furthermore, several familiar jazz instrumentalists make appearances on this record: Gary Bartz, Bruce Forman, Ronnie Cuber, and the Brecker brothers.
Okay, so this really is a genuine jazz record. The remaining question is this: is it a good record? If one uses the Downbeat poll as a yardstick, NEW WEAVE placed eighth in the 1983 voting for jazz album of the year. Interestingly, Rare Silk was never featured, interviewed, pictured, or advertised in the magazine prior to the publication of the December 1983 poll results. Yet, remarkably this record--Rare Silk's very first--gained sufficient fan support to rank it behind only Miles, Marsalis, Metheny, Monk, and just three others. I wholeheartedly agree with that high ranking, and this record has long been a favorite of mine. The two subsequent Rare Silk records, each one a little different from the others, maintain that same high standard in terms of energy, harmony, and creativity. Having been a jazz record collector and listener for many years, I have my own mental list of “I-wish-I'd-had-the-chance-to-see-them-perform-live-whi le-they-were-still- together” groups. Along with Miles Davis, the Tony Williams Lifetime, and Herbie Hancock's 1970's Mwandishi sextet, Rare Silk is definitely on that list.
The NEW WEAVE lineup of vocalists includes Gaile and MaryLynn Gillaspie, Todd Buffa, and Marguerite Juenemann. Of those, the first three would appear on each of the group's records. Todd wrote lyrics for a couple of the tracks; MaryLynn is credited for writing Gaile's vocalese part on Richie Cole's “New York Afternoon.”
The Manhattan Transfer's acclaimed 1985 VOCALESE album was probably that group's most jazz-oriented record from this period, including their versions of “Killer Joe,” “Move,” “Airegin,” and others. True, jazz vocal veteran Jon Hendricks had a hand in the making of that record; but I still like to think that with VOCALESE the Transfer was, in one sense, following Rare Silk's lead.
The three Rare Silk records were issued on three different labels. I suspect that the best way for an interested collector today to hear this music is to try to locate and to buy the original records. Like so many other jazz treasures from the LP era, I do not assume that this music will be reissued in any widely-available form soon. Fans of vocal jazz should check out this group and this record particularly.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
vocal group. Consisting of the band members Gaile Gillaspie, Marylynn Gillaspie, Todd Buffa and Marguerite Juenemann (replaced by Barbara Reeves, and later Jamie Broumas
Jamie Broumas
Jamie Broumas is an American jazz singer, vocal instructor and arts administrator. She lives outside of Washington DC and is the Director of The Fortas Chamber Music Concerts at The John F...
), they started out as a swing-oriented group in the vein of The Pied Pipers
The Pied Pipers
The Pied Pipers were a popular singing group in the late 1930s and 1940s. Originally they consisted of eight members who had belonged to three separate groups: Jo Stafford from The Stafford Sisters, and seven male singers: John Huddleston, Hal Hopper, Chuck Lowry, Bud Hervey, George Tait, Woody...
and (even with the inclusion of a male member) The Andrews Sisters
The Andrews Sisters
The Andrews Sisters were a highly successful close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews , soprano Maxene Angelyn Andrews , and mezzo-soprano Patricia Marie "Patty" Andrews...
. They appeared with Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
at the 1980 Playboy Jazz Festival.
During the next few years, the ensemble modernized their style to include both bop and funkier material, recording for Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
(1982) and Palo Alto Records
Palo Alto Records
Palo Alto Records was a jazz record label that released most of its discography in the 1980s. The label was founded in 1981 by Jim Benham, who was a Palo Alto, California resident. The artistic director was Herb Wong. In 1985 the company ceased its activities...
(1985–86); most notable were their versions of "New York Afternoon," "Red Clay" and "Spain." However, Rare Silk eventually broke up towards the end of the 1980s.
Discography
- 1983: New Weave (with Randy BreckerRandy BreckerRandal "Randy" Brecker is an American trumpeter and flugelhornist. He is a highly sought after performer in the genres of jazz, rock, and R&B, and has performed or recorded with Stanley Turrentine, Billy Cobham, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Sandip Burman, Charles Mingus, Blood, Sweat & Tears,...
, Michael BreckerMichael BreckerMichael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
, Ronnie CuberRonnie CuberRonnie Cuber is a jazz saxophonist. He has also played in Latin, pop, rock and blues sessions. In addition to his primary instrument, baritone sax, he has also played tenor sax, soprano sax and flute, the latter on an album by Eddie Palmieri. As a leader, Cuber is known for hard bop and Latin jazz...
, Lawrence Feldman, Dave CharlesDave CharlesDave Charles, also known as David Charles is a British drummer, recording engineer & record producer. He often appears under both names on the same album, e.g. Help Yourself's The Return of Ken Whaley, where Dave Charles is credited with drums and vocals and David Charles as producer.Charles'...
, Barry Wedgle, Gary BartzGary BartzGary Bartz is an American alto and soprano saxophonist and clarinetist.Bartz graduated from the Baltimore City College high school and The Juilliard School...
, and Bruce Foreman) - 1985: American Eyes (Palo Alto RecordsPalo Alto RecordsPalo Alto Records was a jazz record label that released most of its discography in the 1980s. The label was founded in 1981 by Jim Benham, who was a Palo Alto, California resident. The artistic director was Herb Wong. In 1985 the company ceased its activities...
) - 1986: Black and Blue
Rare Silk began in 1978 as a 3-part harmony vocal group, much in the style of the Boswell Sisters. Their inception coincided with the beginning of local radio station KGNU. For several months, they created a weekly 15 minute local access radio show, which allowed them to build a repertoire. They met the great Benny Goodman by opening for him at Mackey Auditorium in Boulder. Mr. Goodman immediately took to the 3 women's vocal stylings and asked them to go on tour with him. Their first gig was at the Boston Globe Jazz Festival and was live broadcast on PBS. The tour included dates at Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and a week in Japan at the Aurex Jazz Festival. After their tour with Benny, they were joined by male vocalist Todd Buffa and began restyling their approach to a more modern 4-part harmony sound. They were soon discovered by a Polygram scout and recorded their first album, 'New Weave' in 1983. This album was nominated for 2 Grammys and reached #2 on the Billboard Jazz charts.
From Jim Meredith:
Had I been a member of the vocal group Rare Silk, I wonder if I'd have grown tired of hearing fans tell me, “Hey, you remind me of the Manhattan Transfer.” Perhaps such comparisons were inevitable. Judging by the Downbeat magazine annual readers' polls results, the Manhattan Transfer and Rare Silk were widely regarded as the top two vocal groups through most of the 1980's. Yet, to my ears, Rare Silk always seemed a little more intent upon establishing their clear identity as a jazz vocal group. On NEW WEAVE, the group's first record, they draw more heavily from the instrumental jazz repertoire than was the case with most of the 1980's Manhattan Transfer records. “Red Clay” [with Mark Murphy's lyrics], “Lush Life,” “Sugar,” “Spain” [with Al Jarreau's lyrics], and compositions by saxophonists Richie Cole, Gerry Niewood, and Eddie Harris are all to be found on Rare Silk's
NEW WEAVE. Comparisons with Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross seem not at all inappropriate. Furthermore, several familiar jazz instrumentalists make appearances on this record: Gary Bartz, Bruce Forman, Ronnie Cuber, and the Brecker brothers.
Okay, so this really is a genuine jazz record. The remaining question is this: is it a good record? If one uses the Downbeat poll as a yardstick, NEW WEAVE placed eighth in the 1983 voting for jazz album of the year. Interestingly, Rare Silk was never featured, interviewed, pictured, or advertised in the magazine prior to the publication of the December 1983 poll results. Yet, remarkably this record--Rare Silk's very first--gained sufficient fan support to rank it behind only Miles, Marsalis, Metheny, Monk, and just three others. I wholeheartedly agree with that high ranking, and this record has long been a favorite of mine. The two subsequent Rare Silk records, each one a little different from the others, maintain that same high standard in terms of energy, harmony, and creativity. Having been a jazz record collector and listener for many years, I have my own mental list of “I-wish-I'd-had-the-chance-to-see-them-perform-live-whi le-they-were-still- together” groups. Along with Miles Davis, the Tony Williams Lifetime, and Herbie Hancock's 1970's Mwandishi sextet, Rare Silk is definitely on that list.
The NEW WEAVE lineup of vocalists includes Gaile and MaryLynn Gillaspie, Todd Buffa, and Marguerite Juenemann. Of those, the first three would appear on each of the group's records. Todd wrote lyrics for a couple of the tracks; MaryLynn is credited for writing Gaile's vocalese part on Richie Cole's “New York Afternoon.”
The Manhattan Transfer's acclaimed 1985 VOCALESE album was probably that group's most jazz-oriented record from this period, including their versions of “Killer Joe,” “Move,” “Airegin,” and others. True, jazz vocal veteran Jon Hendricks had a hand in the making of that record; but I still like to think that with VOCALESE the Transfer was, in one sense, following Rare Silk's lead.
The three Rare Silk records were issued on three different labels. I suspect that the best way for an interested collector today to hear this music is to try to locate and to buy the original records. Like so many other jazz treasures from the LP era, I do not assume that this music will be reissued in any widely-available form soon. Fans of vocal jazz should check out this group and this record particularly.