What an incredible night at Roxy & Dukes, Dunellen NJ, on May 22, 2016, when we were serenaded by two of the finest doo wop acappella groups around – A Perfect Blend and Quiet Storm. Both groups were up from the Philadelphia area. A Perfect Blend was making their first appearance after some personnel changes. We can now say that A Perfect Blend sounds as great as ever. Current members include:Gibson “T” Trowery (group founder and leader), Kristina I. Trowery, Gary Williams (original member returning to the group) and new members Cheryl and Andy Petruzelli (both formerly of the Norristones). A Perfect Blend started off strong with the Flamingos’ “Mio Amore”. Andy demonstrated a powerful lead with the Platters’ “My Prayer”. Gibson followed with the group’s signature song, “Stand By Me” blended into a medley of Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke and Smokey Robinson tunes. The arrangement originally came from Spyder Turner but over the years A Perfect Blend has turned it into a vocal harmony acappella classic. Other stand out songs included “Never Let Me Go,” “Gee Whiz,” “I’m So In Love” (Roxy & the Daychords), “Let It Please be You,” and a medley of “You Can Depend On Me” / “Ooh Baby Baby” / “I’m Gonna Miss You”. A classic mix of soul and doo wop, done to perfection by A Perfect Blend!
Of course, the evening was only half over. After a short intermission, we were back to great acappella harmony with Quiet Storm. Kamau “Smitty” Akiba, Darrall Campbell, James Phillips, Ron Silva and William Nix did another splendid job in their return to Roxy & Dukes. Quiet Storm now has a nice opening song, “Waiting For So Long”. James led his classic take on the Five Stairsteps’ “You Waited Too Long”. The group followed with splendid renditions of “I’m On The Outside looking In,” “Sixty Minute Man,” “You Send Me,” “Just My Imagination,” “Wonderful Wonderful,” “Just Ask The Lonely,” “You’re Mine” and more. Darrall again thrilled the audience with “Remember”. The closed with a powerful “Everybody’s Got A Home But Me”. As always, Quiet Storm was magnificent!
We had a nice crowd this time as our attendance is definitely growing. The parking lot was filled but fortunately there was plenty of parking on the street.
Click on any photo below to enlarge then use the side arrows to see the rest. Scroll down to watch videos of A Perfect Blend and Quiet Storm at Roxy & Dukes.
