Friday, Oct. 12, 2012

A capella group featured at Ted Falasco Arts Center

Gospel, soul, R&B and doo-wap will ring in five-part harmony later this month at Ted Falasco Arts Center.

Talk of da Town, an a capella group, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27 at the center.

The San Francisco-based quintet formed in the 1970s. So, they have had some time to figure out the key to a good a capella sound.

"Good ears, a good bassman and the soul," said Andrew "Stan" Lockwood, in an email.

Lockwood began singing at Providence Baptist Church in San Francisco, and was inspired by soul greats Sam Cooke and Otis Redding. He was later influenced by Jerry Lawson and the Persuasions, an a capella group from New York.

Lockwood said people are drawn to a capella music.

"(It's) music coming from the heart, and the love of making music without instruments," Lockwood said.

Lockwood and his mates, Carl Douglas, Rodney James, Chase Ruffin and Douglas Stepney, have a resúmé that includes work with The Temptations, Rod Stewart, James Brown, Ray Charles and Patti LaBelle, to name a few.

The group also performed on the NBC singing-competition show "The Sing-Off" with Jerry Lawson.

Together for so long, Talk of da Town knows how to keep its bond, Lockwood said.

"The love for one another and the love of music," Lockwood said, "and being able to see the joy on the human face."

Tickets for the show are $20 and are available at the door, or from Los Banos Arts Council President Gary Wulbern at (209) 826-0489.

To see Talk of da Town's NBC performance, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwaPNhg6vGI&feature=related.

Enterprise reporter Thaddeus Miller can be reached at (209) 388-6562 or by email at tmiller@losbanosenterprise.com.

Enterprise reporter Thaddeus Miller can be reached at (209) 388-6562 or by email at tmiller@losbanos enterprise.com.