Yes, Indeed, we're breaking up after nine, fun-filled years! Nine years with the same guys in a quartet is a pretty amazing thing. It's not because of a falling out either; we never fought…that's amazing too. Nine years, same guys…never argued (well, not really). Amazing indeed! How could it have been?

I always marveled how I (an ornery, hot headed, opinionated, ethnicish kind of New Yawker) could have come to associate regularly and love these three different, WASPy, mild mannered, gentlemen. Fate, barbershopping and a limited number of alternatives threw us together. I never thought it would last.

Continued from Homepage

Right from the start, however, one thing bound us together. In my mind that one thing formed the germ of a rare and common bond. We all always showed up on time for rehearsals. We may not have been very good musicians at first but at least I was working with guys who respected each other enough to show up on time.

I always say it was fortuitous that we called ourselves, Yes Indeed! I'd laugh at how much we were all sort of corporate, tie-wearing, yes-men types...very accommodating, very deferential and very polite. I sometimes thought we could have called ourselves the Ned Flander's quartet (after Homer Simpson's pathologically deferential and cheery neighbor, Ned) or Yes Indeedily Do! But oddly enough it worked. I'm not used to working with polite midwestern type guys.

No matter how cranky or tired I would come to a rehearsal, it wasn't long before sharing the sweet sound of ringing close harmony and the feel of a swinging melody let me forget my daily cares The fact that we generally improved over the years didn't hurt either. There were plenty of ups and downs but we never sank too low (except, as Kevin interpreted it, when a judge told us we might want to take up bowling instead of singing). We were always pleased to fall in the middle of the District's competition pack. Yes indeedily do!

We even eventually got pretty good and developed a group persona and a repertoire perfectly suited to our name and our easy, charming appeal. We sang ditties, light, fun, swingy ditties. Nothing too heavy or downhearted. Over the years the unique and sometimes bizarre gigs we'd gotten and the shared experience of competition further drew us together. We eventually learned to have fun and fit into our own skin as a quartet.

At the core we had developed a real trust and respect for each other. Over time we trusted that no one of us was a diva or overly valued his own opinion. Over time we came to appreciate that each of us brought to the table strong but different and equal sets of skills, without any one of which we would have been lost. Gordon was the reader, Dick had the sweet and easy golden voice and impeccable pitch and the leading man looks, Kevin was a showman, the creative type who added many of Yes Indeed's flourishes. I was the driver: I drove the car and everyone insane about our next gig, our taxes, some little musical passage and just where would we hide those big pink sponges when we entered.

I'd be remiss if I failed to recognize one other reason (perhaps the single most influential external one) our quartet survived, grew and had so much fun all those years. The Manhattan Chapter, and more particularly, the Big Apple Chorus and its music team, provided us with an enormous amount of training, support, encouragement and many wonderful performance opportunities (like those we had at Lincoln Center). We had the great fortune also to have been coached by some of the most sought after coaches and judges in the Barbershop Harmony Society right from within our own chapter- off-line albeit. Perhaps the single most valuable help we got defining our quartet's persona and style came from a few of the smart and delightful, custom, arrangements Roger Payne created specifically for us.

I never expected to gain so much through my quartet experience with Yes Indeed and this silly hobby. Beyond the music, the art and craft, I have learned and enjoyed far more than I ever expected.

Professor Harold Hill would have been right to say that from here on these four men would never be seen apart. Oh well, life goes on. It was fun, I made real good friends and learned more about music and playing well with others in the sandbox than I ever expected. Who'da thought it?

Return to Homepage