Sounding out Acre with Kevin Fox
Canadian singer joins forces with Israel’s pioneering rhythm choir Vocalocity
Kevin Fox has a long pedigree in various areas of musical vocal endeavor. Now in his forties the Canadian-born, British-based singer first put his vocal chords to good musical use when he was hardly knee high to a grasshopper.
“I was brought up in the church,” he says. “My mother was a church organist and choir conductor, so she basically conscripted me and my older sister to be in the church choir and we grew up singing from an early age. Fox will be bringing some of that accrued wealth of experience to this country next week, when he oversees the live output of the Vocalocity ensemble, Israel’s pioneering rhythm choir, at the annual song-based Zimriya festival, which takes place in the historic Knights’ Halls in old Acre August 5 to 8.
The Canadian has been working with the Israeli troupe for around five years now as conductor and musical director and makes periodic jaunts over here, as far as his main line of artistic work allows. For the past 11 years, the latter has entailed being a member of the legendary Swingle Singers. The a capella group began life in Paris in 1962, and subsequently relocated to London. Fox has been on board, in the baritone slot, since 2017.
Landing a berth with the long-running a capella act was something of a boyhood dream come true for Fox, although he didn’t necessarily harbor the relevant aspirations. After several years of dutifully singing contemporary church material, Fox lost his zest for the pursuit and, in fact, music in general until, at the age of 17, he discovered jazz.
“When I was 17 I got into jazz – particularly instrumental jazz – and that reignited my interest in music,” Fox recalls. “I was into big bands and vocal jazz as well.” He was particularly drawn to brass. “I was a trumpet player at high school, so I was enjoying a healthy diet of trumpet music and all sorts of jazz trumpeters. That inspired me a lot in my playing.”
Fox always kept a least one ear trained on the singing side of improvisational sounds, especially unaccompanied vocals.
“In terms of the vocal end of it I was really into, well, the Swingle Singers for one. When I was younger we sang their music. I also liked The Singers Unlimited, and Take 6 was a huge influence. The first time I heard them was pretty life changing.”
However, despite digging the sound of lush, multi-layered vocals, without instrumental support, Fox says he didn’t set out to become a professional a capella vocalist. In that respect, joining the Swingle Singers was not, specifically, the culmination of lifelong ambition. Even so, young Fox had been pretty active on the scene for some time.
“I sang in, and directed, a capella choirs in university. But it was just student-run things,” he explains, with a touch of diffidence. “I wasn’t studying music. I didn’t aspire to do it professionally. It was just something I did when I was younger, and then it became a hobby.”
Eventually serendipity stepped in, along with good old practicalities.
“I studied anthropology and archeology and I was interning at a government job. I enjoyed the fieldwork, which I did at an old military base on the St. Lawrence River. Enthusiasm notwithstanding, the daily excavation grind began to take its toll.
“I found it difficult physically and I began to get numbness in my toes. I would have an opportunity to apply for a full-time position [as an archeologist], but I realized I wouldn’t be able to do that.” The music option sprang to the rescue. “At the time I was being introduced to this popular music choir that friends of mine were involved with and they were trying to get me and work with them.” The group in question was funkily called Wibi Jazz’n, and was based at York University in Toronto. “The group didn’t have a great name, but it was a great group,” Fox laughs.
He duly forsook any Indiana Jones aspirations and got serious with the Wibi Jazz’n guys, forming a quartet and giving frequent performances.
Fox seems to have a natural talent for falling into things, rather than setting his sights and driving himself to achieving defined goals. Next up in the baritone’s singing act career was an a capella outfit called Cadence which, took Fox another step forward.
“Again, we hadn’t intended to be serious, but had the opportunity to do some performances, and we thought we’d see what we could do with it and we became professional. After a few years we were able to go full time with it.”
Fox and Cadence did sterling work together for nine years, until 2007, and after a former Wibi Jazz’n cohort drew his attention to the fact that Swingle Singers were looking for a baritone, Fox duly applied, went to London for an audition, and the rest – at least for the past 11 years and counting – is glittering concert and studio recording history.
Fox has been working with Vocalocity on and off for a while now and says the 40-odd strong vocal ensemble does not necessarily follow the a capella straight and narrow.
“We don’t really do traditional Hebrew material. It’s more sort of singing songwriter music. This time we’ll be doing songs by [veteran Israeli pop-rock] singer Danny Robas and [1970s seminal Israeli pop-rock group] Kaveret. And we’ll be doing some songs in English – by Fleetwood Mac, Simon and Garfunkel – and some more contemporary songs, like Ariana Grande. It’s a real wide mixture.”
The Canadian says he is just as happy to go with the choir flow.
“The group is not a closed door. We don’t do liturgical music, but geographically and culturally the group has been very open to doing music from all over. I’d certainly like to do songs in other languages with them, besides English. We’ll see how that evolves.”
Elsewhere on the Zimriya agenda you will be able to catch concerts by the likes of Jerusalem Orchestra East West, Miri Mesika, the veteran Hakol Over Habibi quartet and the Coral Ensemble. The four-day repertoire will span extensive disciplinary, stylistic and cultural ground, including Middle Eastern liturgical material; cantorial music; a new offering from classical composer Oded Zehavi; as well as a tribute to female vocal endeavor courtesy of the Naveh Shir Choir, and conductor Anat Dor-Margalit, inter alia taking in a new arrangement by veteran composer Moshe Zorman.
The venerable Knights Halls should be particularly sonorous next week.