Ben Folds' A Capella Project is Brilliant
Ben is so … everything (e.g., a genius, a smart ass, a serial husband, etc.). He’s also a risk taker. And he’s doing it again — he’s working on a unique project: an a capella album called Ben Folds Presents: University A Capella!, which will be released April 28 (that’s right, soon!).
(As a side note: I’d love to be Ben’s best friend for a year, see how it goes. Maybe all I really want is to conduct a really lengthy interview with him, perhaps over a weekend, and hear all his stories and philosophies and f-bombs. Maybe all I really want is to grab a grilled cheese sandwich with him over lunch at some diner in Nashville, near Ben’s home, and talk shit about all kinds of shit, and laugh.)
Many months ago, Ben supposedly discovered on YouTube that some university a capella groups were covering his songs. He thought some of the arrangements and performances were brilliant, and he decided to produce an album that featured the best groups.
Ben received over 200 submissions from university a capella groups across the country. You can listen to most of the submissions on YouTube. Many are fantastic, and very entertaining!
Out of all those submissions, Ben chose fifteen groups to feature on his album.
For the inside scoop about this project, read Ben’s blog post and listen to a recent interview with Ben on WYNC.
Below I’ve included two of my favorite performances; both will be featured on Ben’s album. The first is from an a capella group called Voices in Your Head, from the University of Chicago. Nick Hornby, author of High Fidelity and About a Boy, praised Voices in Your Head’s version of the Ben Folds Five song “Magic.”
The second performance I’ve included below is from a group called Sacramento State Jazz Singers, from, um, Sacramento State. Brilliant performance, and some really cute girls. I especially like the way the one girl sings the word “shit” with such feeling. Enjoy! I’d love to hear what you think.