Golden oldies flow when Omaha Symphony, quartet team up

The Omaha Symphony has suddenly morphed into a Las Vegas backup band.

This weekend, the symphony under resident conductor Ernest Richardson is accompanying Spectrum, a vocal quartet that performs covers of Motown golden oldies.

The singers –– Cushney Roberts, David Prescott, Darryl Grant and Pierre Jovan –– have twice been voted Best of Las Vegas. And when they're not headlining their own concerts, they're usually opening for such marquee acts as Tony Bennett, Little Richard and Doc Severinsen.

Clearly, Spectrum has been successful because it has created faithful facsimiles of Motown's greatest hits.

During Friday's opening night concert, the foursome presented the familiar songs of the Temptations, the Four Tops, the Delfonics and the Spinners, among others.

The group's performances sound almost exactly like the original radio hits –– they even use many of the original orchestral charts. Moreover, Spectrum has faithfully and tastefully copied Motown's elegant and energetic choreographic style. That means the group is as fun to watch as it is to listen to.

Spectrum's four singers all took turns as lead vocalist. All have very distinctive instruments.

Roberts sings with a powerful and passionate tenor that's at its best in its comfortable middle range. That made him an ideal singer for such tunes as the Four Tops' “Same Old Song” and even the Spinners' “The Rubberband Man.”

Prescott has the most amazing set of pipes in the group. His range is an unusual three octaves that reaches up to a stratospheric high C. His rendition of “Ooo Baby Baby” called to mind the old “Is it real or is it Memorex?” commercial, since Prescott sounded just like the Miracles' radio hit.

Grant also sang with an impressive falsetto, his voice soaring in such tunes as the Temptations' “Get Ready.” Jovan sang lead in “Ain't Too Proud to Beg” and provided expert harmony in most other selections.

Not surprisingly, Friday's concert was full of baby boomer Motown fans, and many were not shy about singing along –– often quite well –– to their favorite songs.

Most of the time, Spectrum gave this audience what it wanted –– pure, unadulterated nostalgia. Still, there were a few unexpected moments.

For instance, I hardly expected to hear a refined, elegant orchestral arrangement of the James Brown classic “It's a Man's World.”

Roberts said he got the idea for this arrangement after watching a YouTube video of Brown performing with Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti.

Somehow, I managed to miss that strange video, which seems about as sonically appealing as a bowl of chocolate ice and onions.

All the same, Spectrum's rendition worked for two reasons –– the string arrangement wisely avoided saccharine sentimentality. And Roberts sang with Brown-like intensity, right down to his closing, Godfather-of-soul-infused primal scream.

Now that's how you end a song. “Yeeeeeowwww!”

Contact the writer:

444-1076, john.pitcher@owh.com

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