Nightlifeは1996年のSPEBSQSA国際大会の優勝カルテットです。四人とも協会トップ･コーラスの一つMasters Of Harmonyで、パート･リーダーをつとめ、この年にはコーラスも優勝してダブル・タイトル獲得で話題になりました。来日時点では優勝後10周年、結成以来不動のメンバーで活動を続けていた結束力の強いカルテットでもあります。
米国内外で多くの公演をこなしていますが、来日は2005年の東京バーバーズ(TB)・ショウが初めて。
（注）SPEBSQSAはSociety for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. （アメリカ バーバーショップカルテット歌唱 保存 奨励協会）の頭文字。 Barbershop Harmony Society =BHS バーバーショップハーモニーソサイエティの、発足当初の名称。
TBとの出会いは、メルボルンで行われた2001年の環太平洋バーバーショップ大会。例によって打上げのロビーで歌っていたTBを気に入って、一曲歌い返してくれました。その時買ったCDの”One Moment In Time”にTBメンバーがゾッコンほれ込んだのが、招聘のキッカケです。
Nightlifeの招聘を担当した松村としては、メールでの出演交渉に中々返事が来なくて、大変、気をもんだことが、先ず思い出されます。カルテット側の窓口はテナーのRobでしたが、数年前にメルボルンで出会っただけの日本のコーラスからの出演オファーに戸惑ったのかも知れません。実際に会ってみると、朴訥な好青年でした。
リードのJohn Sasineについては、来日直前にスキーで膝をねん挫したとかで、成田へ迎えに行ったらホータイぐるぐる巻きの姿で現れたことに、まずビックリ。彼はメキシコ系アメリカ人なので、ワカモレ(メキシコ料理のアボカドのディップ)が大好物。ショウの打ち上げで、刺身の皿に山盛りのワサビを見で、初めてこの緑色の物体を見た時の思い出を語ってくれました。
（来日中）どこかの立派なパーティに出た時のこと、刺身の横に好物のワカモレを見つけて、早速ガバッとスプーンで取って頬張ったら、ワカモレではなくワサビの山盛りだったので七転八倒、ちゃんとしたパーティで吐き出すわけにもいかず、大変な思いをしたそうです。
Johnは、見た目は田舎のオッサンでしたが、その後、コーラスを指揮して、国際大会のトップ10(2019年9位)にも顔を出していますから、音楽的には優れた才能の持ち主だったようです。
バリトンのJeff Bakerは、直前に結婚して、この時は新妻を連れて新婚旅行を兼ねての来日となりました。奥さんは、確かJoe Liles(バーバーショップ界では著名な編曲者)の娘さんで、中々の美人。
当時招聘担当は、ホテルにカルテットと一緒に泊まり込みで案内をしていたので、ショウの打ち上げ終了後は、彼らの部屋でよもやま話をしていましたが、Jeffが奥さんをカルテットの集まっている部屋に呼んだところ、奥さんはよもやのパジャマ姿で登場。夜遅いので、パジャマ・パーティかと思ったとのことでした。
この時 Nightlife のメンバーは、これから取り組む新曲の練習だと言って譜面を見ながら音合わせを始めたのですが、最初からハーモニーがきちっと出来上がっていて、「本当に譜読みを始めたばかりなの？」と思わず訊いてしまいました。
ベースの Brett Littlefield は、苗字のLittlefieldから想像されるのと違い、6フィート（≒183cm）以上の巨漢ですが、ショウの前日、TBのゲネプロに来て、挨拶代わりにNightlifeで一曲歌った後、TBにタグを教えてくれました。一人で、4パートを歌い、一生懸命コーラスに口伝えで教えてくれたのです。
Brettは、見掛けはゴツいのですが、根っからのバーバーショップ好き。ゲィリイがTBの客演指揮を降りるとき、後任の候補の一人に挙げてくれたのですが、メールで打診をしても、なしのつぶて。話は立ち消えになってしまいました。
東京バーバーズの現客演指揮者であるロジャー Roger Ross も、合宿で時々タグを4パートをパート毎に歌って、口移しで教えてくれますが、前客演指揮者のゲィリイ Gary Steinkamp も、タグを幾つもTBに残してくれました。コーラスの練習の始めのウォームアップで使っている”My Mom”も確か、ゲィリイが教えてくれた中の一曲です。
「タグ」というのは、荷札、値札という意味の英語ですが、バーバーショップでは、曲の最後のハーモニーが凝縮された部分のことで、色々なタグを覚えることは、そのままハーモニーを豊かに響かせる「引き出し」を増やすことになるので、カルテット・コーラス共に、貴重な財産です。タグについてはまた色々なエピソードがあり内容盛りだくさんなので、別にまとめます。
（Kaz 松村）
Memories of the Nightlife Quartet-Is the tag important?
Nightlife is the winning quartet of the 1996 S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A. International Tournament. All four were part leaders at Masters Of Harmony, one of the top choruses of the association, and this year the chorus also won and became a hot topic for winning the double title. At the time of coming to Japan, it is the 10th anniversary of the victory, and it is also a quartet with strong cohesiveness that has been active as an immovable member since its formation.・ The show is the first time.
(Note) S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A. is an acronym for Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. The original name of the BHS Barbershop Harmony Society.
The encounter between TB and Nightlife was at the 2001 Pacific Rim Barber Shop Tournament in Melbourne. As usual, he liked the TB that was sung in the launch lobby and returned a song. It was the invitation that the TB members fell in love with the song “One Moment In Time” on the Nightlife CD that I bought at that time.
Matsumura (= me), who was in charge of inviting Nightlife, first remembers that he was very worried because he didn’t get a reply to the appearance negotiations by email. The quartet’s negotiator was Rob Menaker, who may have been confused by an offer from a Japanese chorus that he had only met in Melbourne a few years ago. When he actually met, he was a good young man.
First of all, when I picked them up at Narita Airport, I was surprised by John Sasine (Lead). He had his knees crushed by skiing just before he came to Japan, so he appeared wrapping around with a bandage. He’s a Mexican-American, so guacamole (Mexican avocado dip) is his favorite. At the closing party of the show, he saw a heap of wasabi on a sashimi plate and told me about his memories of seeing this green object for the first time.
(During their visit to Japan) When they went to a fine party somewhere, I found my favorite guacamole next to the sashimi, and immediately took a lot with a spoon and chewed it, but it was a heap of wasabi instead of guacamole. So John was in agony, but he couldn’t spit it out at a prestigious party, and he had very very hard time.
John was naive in appearance, but after that he has conducted the chorus and made an appearance in the top 10 of international competitions (9th in 2019), so he is a talented musician.
Jeff Baker (baritone) got married just before, and this time he came to Japan with his new wife for a honeymoon. His wife is certainly the daughter of Joe Liles (a well-known arranger in the barber shop world) and is a very beautiful woman.
At that time, the person in charge of invitation (= me) was guiding them, and staying at the hotel with the quartet. After the show was finished, they were chatting in their room. When Jeff called his wife to the room where the quartet was gathering, she appeared in his pajamas. “It was late at night, so she wondered if Jeff was having a slumber party.” She said.
At this time, the members of Nightlife said that it was a practice for a new song that they were going to work on, and started to tune while looking at the score, but the harmony was completed from the beginning, and unintentionaly, “Are you really just starting to read the score?” I have asked.
Brett Littlefield (base) is a giant over 6 feet, unlike what you might imagine from his last name Littlefield, but the day before the show, he came to TB’s Genepro with Nightlife and gave the greeting song for us. After singing a song, he taught TB the tag. He sang four parts by himself and taught the chorus by word of mouth.
Brett looks rugged, but he loves barbershops from the ground up. When Gary Steinkamp stepped down from TB’s guest conductor, he recommended Brett as one of his successor candidates, but Brett didn’t reply to him by email. The story has disappeared.
Tags are important for barber shop enthusiasts, and Roger Ross, the current guest conductor of Tokyo Barbers, sometimes sings four parts of tags part by part at the training camp and teaches them by word of mouth, but the former guest conductor Gary Steinkamp also left a number of tags on the TB. “My Mom” used in the warm-up at the beginning of the chorus practice is certainly one of the songs that Gary taught us.
“Tag” is an English word that means a tag attached to luggage or a price tag, but at the barber shop, the last harmony of the song is condensed, and remembering various tags enriches the harmony as it is. Both the quartet and chorus are valuable assets because they will increase the number of “drawers” that can be heard in English. There are various episodes about tags and there are many contents, so I will summarize them separately.
(Kaz Matsumura)