Midwest Beat Magazine -- A cappella recording can be very dangerous. Unless a group/producer/arranger is highly creative, voice-only recordings can begin to sound the same rather quickly, and interest lost rather permanently.

So the question here is... Are N.W. Indiana's Stormy Weather - led by vocal maestro Henry Farag and including Linda Walla, Billy Shelton, and Jenise McAleer - able to sustain interest through an entire CD? Yes!

It helps that the CD is only a little over a half-hour long, and it also helps that instead of being a pure, entirely a cappella recording, different, unusual instruments are brought in to give the songs a tad bit of flavor - drums and a string quartet, to be precise. Allow me to elaborate.

The leadoff track is a cover of the Commodore's classic soul romp, "Night Shift," which begins as a voice-only recording (with very distinctive "Hummm... Hummm..." ensemble vocals courtesy of arranger Ben Odom), but shortly into the number, drums are brought in.

What I found particularly attractive about this idea is that the voices are the only tone instruments; the voices become the "band." Instead of a bass guitar, a bass vocal is providing the foundation. The other "guitars," as well as "piano" and whatever other instruments one might imagine, are provided by the tenor, alto, and soprano vocal work.

From start to finish, this collection is rather very good, for which we can heap a good deal of credit on Odom and his solid arranging.

The other unusual instrumental touch is the use of a string quartet on many of the numbers, including Ben E. King's "Stand By Me" and Sam Cooke's "Wonderful World." Placed alongside the voices, the quartet provides an engaging effect. A different context is created by this arrangement technique, and I found it very enticing and exciting, indeed.

A musical highlight of the CD for me is the Van McCoy composition "Baby, I'm Yours," with Linda Walla handling the lead vocal. I've always loved Walla's singing style (when I used to go and see her front Pawnz over at the old Club Dimensions), and she does not disappoint here. The song itself is very infectious and Walla's vocal provides the necessary class to put it over.

The loin's share of the lead vocals are Henry Farag's, and some interesting song choices, such as Louis Prima's "Banana Split" and Bill Wither's "Lean On Me," showcase his smokey, cigarette-stained voice quite effectively. When listening to Farag sing, it's obvious that he is the "soul" of the group.

What makes his style work so well in an a cappella context is his tone. It's very warm and inviting. A great example is his treatment of Sam Cooke's "Wonderful World." Farag knows what works for him and his choice of songs capitalizes on it.

This CD is definitely local music worth supporting. Congratulations on a wonderful piece of work! - Ben Likens