Music Reviews : Christmas Songs With Inner Voices at Cinegrill

Until recently, the group that now calls itself Inner Voices was known as the Christmas Singers. The four members devoted their time exclusively, and still concentrate mainly, on getting together to celebrate this season in literal and figurative harmony. Friday and Saturday they performed for a captivated audience at the Cinegrill.

Inner Voices consists of Morgan Ames, who writes most of the arrangements, and her three colleagues: Darlene Koldenhoven, Carmen Twillie and Clydene Jackson. Because most of those songs are performed a cappella, Ames, after making the announcements (most of them with a welcome--of dry humor), checked the first note by using a pitch pipe. A few numbers employed a taped piano track, but much of this group’s success is due to its ability to build and sustain a mood without instrumental accompaniment.

All four members worked regularly as studio singers. Their Christmas repertoire was a joyous and perfectly intoned blend of standards from “Ave Maria” to “White Christmas” (including the seldom-heard verse) and original works. For variety, there was a Cataland folk song in Spanish and English, a variation on “What Child Is This” with new lyrics by Ames, and a Koldenhoven original, “The Angel Sang.” Jackson added a touch of the blues with “Merry Christmas Baby.”

From Koldenhoven’s pure, high soprano (which faltered just once when she lapsed into a scream on “Silent Night”) to Twillie’s sonorous contralto, this was a rare example of flawless togetherness--which, after all, is what Christmas is all about. For a finale, Ames invited a dozen of the many singers in the room to join Inner Voices on-stage for a couple of jubilant carols. By the end of this enchanting show, it was beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.