Ok I am officially hooked on the awesome stuff of the Hi-Lo’s.  It took me a while to come around to it, but if you’ve never heard of these guys, you have to check out their website, http://www.thehi-los.com. 

Do yourself a favor and download the “My Sugar is So Refined” clip from the Nat King Cole show.  Amazing stuff!

If you’re not familiar with the Hi-Lo’s, the guy on the lower left is Gene Puerling, the later baritone of the Singers Unlimited.  A group from the 70’s and early 80’s who never performed live, but were some of the most pristine musicians and most well-tuned and balanced singers of all time… undoubtedly.  They had a bass who was well known as the “Jolly Green Giant,” and the tenor and Soprano of the Group were smooth as silk.  Gene’s arrangements were the standard for jazz vocal groups of several generations, and still his stuff is way, way, way cool, and hard as heck to tune.  Check out the Singers Unlimited and their recordings at the following page, http://www.singers.com/jazz/singersunlimited.html (you can download clips there as well) and their unofficial home page, http://www.powersalad.com/singersunlimited/index2.htm.  Listen to Sesame Street, Fool on the Hill… goodness, any of them.