A cappella sextet m-pact brings vocal finesse to Alberta Bair.
m-pact, a Los Angeles-based a cappella sextet, performs May 4 at Alberta Bair Theater in Billings. The San Francisco Chronicle hails m-pact as “one of the best pop-jazz vocal groups in the world.”
The group emerged more than 20 years ago in an age of auto-tune and overproduction and has cultivated fans who are hungry for the fresh, raw power of nature’s first instrument, the human voice. Their eclectic music styles have earned them honors in pop, jazz and R&B, including Vocal Group of the Year from the L.A. Music Awards and Artist of the Year from the Seattle Music Awards.
It’s a concoction that blends “the smooth soul of Sam Smith, the percussive power of Stomp, the funk and groove of Bruno Mars, the sophisticated harmonies of Take 6, and the brass bite of the Michael Bublé Big Band.”
Touring renowned fine arts halls and jazz festivals across four continents, m-pact has performed with pop superstars Sheryl Crow, Boyz II Men, Natasha Bedingfield, and Ray Charles to name a few; as well as with jazz legends Natalie Cole, Bobby McFerrin, the Woody Herman Orchestra, the Maynard Ferguson Big Band, and many others. Over the last two decades, their signature sound has been used in both TV themes and animated Disney feature films, and is played on jazz and pop radio worldwide.
The a cappella stars continue to break new ground with exciting recording projects, new music videos and inspiring live performances. In 2014 m-pact joined forces with New York a cappella powerhouse Duwende to produce I Wish For All Time, a tribute to the music of Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson, which they’ve performed to sold-out theaters across the U.S.
Arts Without Boundaries has sponsored this concert in conjunction with the State Solo and Ensemble Music Festival that brings about 800 high school students, plus their teachers, from across eastern Montana to Billings. Members of m-pact, all of whom had college careers in music or music education, will be conducting workshops in Billings schools, including Central Catholic High School and Medicine Crow Middle School, prior to their performance as part of outreach sponsored by Arts Without Boundaries and Alberta Bair Theater.
Tickets, $30 for adults and $17 for students, are available at the ABT Box Office or by phone at 406-256-6052 (10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday) and/or online at www.albertabairtheater.org.