“Kaleidoscope Heart” is Sara Bareilles’ title track on her 2010 album by the same name and “Bluebird” is the last cut on the same recording. Vocal Jazz arranger, Kerry Marsh, expertly combines the two, with the beautiful jazz waltz (“Bluebird”) featured prominently (and the title track serves as bookends around this tune). The mash-up feels very organic – almost as if the two songs are versions of each other. According to Bareilles, “I picked out the name of the record months before I even finished writing the songs. I love the imagery of those words, and they’re really representative of how I envision my heart. It’s a colorful but fragmented, ever-changing sum of all the bits and pieces that make it up. A kaleidoscope is a tool that helps make sense of the mess. Or at least makes it nice to look at”. Arranger Kerry Marsh expertly sets both pieces with his signature tight (and split) harmonies and engaging rhythms. Don’t have a vocal jazz ensemble? No worries – this piece would work equally well as the middle ballad within a show-choir set or as a contemporary selection for a larger choir.
A personal note about Dr. Lacey Powell: I first arrived on the Alabama music education scene in 1986 as a newly minted PhD (Florida State) and a passion for all things music education. Lacey quickly reached out to me, made me feel needed and cared for and took a genuine interest in my areas of research and
teaching—an involvement that he continued right up until his death. I worked closely with Lacey for a yearly event (to honor WWII TROY University alumni) and he extended this same care and attention to my singers as well. Receiving the AMEA 2014 Lacey Powell Outstanding Music Educator Award was one of the proudest professional moments of my life—because it bears his name, memory, and legacy. He set the example for us all and I will cherish his memory forever.
Dr. Diane Orlofsky is Professor of Music and Director of Choirs at Troy University, where she oversees the choral program and teaches undergraduate and graduate classes in music education. She is the conductor of the Troy University Concert Chorale and the Director of the Troy University vocal jazz ensemble, frequency.
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