Steve Kass

Ives Psalm 90 is to die for, and the rest of it is damn good, too. You can download DRM-free mp3 files from digstation here. It’s also available on iTunes and some other sites. It will be available as a CD at dessoff.org. An uncommon, fully rewarding look at American choral music.

On Thursday, November 19, and Friday, November 20, the Dessoff Chamber Choir backed up Ray Davies live at Town Hall in New York in a set of songs from the Kinks Choral Collection.

You can see all the tenors in this photograph from a superb collection posted to SmugMug by Arnie Goodman of Bluestormmusic.com and Elmore Magazine:

Tenors, L to R: Jeff Lunden, Andrew Willett, Daniel O’Brien, Steve Brautigam, Erol Tamerman, Tansal Arnas, Douglas Riccardi, Steve Kass

And here’s a YouTube clip of us singing. Friday’s concert was recorded for radio broadcast in early December. Stay tuned for details.

It was a fantastic gig. Ray, the band, and the sound and stage crew were all as nice as could be, and David Temple, the choir director was brilliant. Also brilliant was Dessoff soprano Christine Hoffman, without whom we couldn’t have done this. She prepared us superbly in the weeks before the concerts. Best of all was the crowd, who were wildly appreciative of the choir both during and after the show.

Finally, Dessoff would be happy to meet fans, friends, or supporters at our upcoming CD Release party:

No, it’s not another Philip Glass premiere, but that was a good guess. The correct answer is The Kinks Choral Collection.

I’d love to see my friends come hear me in either or both Dessoff gigs I’m part of this month:

• November 12: Our 2009-2010 concert series begins, with Ernest Bloch’s Avodath Hakodesh (Sacred Service) at Congregation Rodeph Sholom on the Upper West Side.
• November 19 and 20: We back up Ray Davies at Town Hall on November 19 and 20.

If you can’t make it to one of our shows, you’re not off the hook:

• November 18th: Dessoff appears on The Late Show with David Letterman. A small group of Dessoff singers (not including me) will back up Ray Davies, who’ll be Dave’s guest that day.