The 4 men and 4 women of An Octave Above, (named 1st runner-up at the 2005 Harmony Sweeps Chicago Regional) are a group of professional vocalists, together for only 3 years, whose repertoire includes doo-wop, jazz, standards and madrigals. This is the group's impressive debut CD of 13 songs, beginning with a jazzy, light 'Chile Con Carne,' a sweet Ward Swingle-arranged 'All the Things You Are,' and a ringingly harmonic cover of James Taylor's 'That Lonesome Road.' Doo-Wop classics 'Come Go With Me' and 'In the Still of the Night' segue nicely into Billy Joel's anthem 'And So It Goes,' a bluenote 'There Will Never Be Another You' grows upbeat and scattish, 'Tico Tico' puts a margarita in our hand and pulls us onto the dance floor, and finally we have Ward Swingle's sparkling arrangement of 'Country Dances.' Excellent stuff from this fast-rising Chicago octet, who we will be expecting to see at the '06 Sweeps Finals!