The 5C all-female a cappella group Women’s Blue and White hosted visiting Yale a cappella group
Proof of the Pudding at their March 7 Snack concert on the Frary steps.
Women’s Blue and White is a mixture
of women from all 5Cs. The group performed a diverse range of popular songs
including The Zutons’s “Valerie,” and The Band of
Perry’s “If I Die Young.” Women’s Blue and White ended their set strongly with Gloria
Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.” Each singer’s different style came together
harmoniously and added to the groups’ fun and vibrant presence.
Proof in the Pudding’s performance
was part of their Southern California tour. The group is composed of 14 women
who focus on swing and soft jazz genres. The group performed four songs
including Aretha Franklin’s “Son of a Preacher Man,” and “This Will Be” by Natalie Cole. During their rendition of “One Fine Day” by the
Chiffons, Proof in the Pudding pulled one male audience
member on stage to serenade, singing, “One fine day, / you’re gonna want me for your girl.”
Various members of Proof in the
Pudding spoke with TSL after the
show about the history of their group and their tour.
TSL: When was
Proof in the Pudding founded?
Jessica Jollie ’13: [Our group] was founded in 1975, six
years after women were first admitted to Yale. We are unique on campus in the
sense that we specialize in swing and jazz music.
TSL: What is the
a cappella culture like at Yale?
Caitlin Parmer ’13: There are 15 different groups, so
[a cappella] is big on campus. Our rush process is almost like a sorority or
fraternity rush process, where we have auditions and then there are two weeks
where we have meals with people and get to know everyone. The people who are
rushing sort of see what group they would like to be in, as well as us deciding
who we would like in our group.
Emily Gray ’13: [A cappella] is something that is really
unique and very traditional and so many people are excited to be a part of it
[which] makes it a very dynamic scene.
TSL: How is Proof
in the Pudding unique to Yale’s a cappella culture?
Gray: We have met a lot of our alumni this year, and people
who were in the original founding group. The [founders] founded this group
because there was only one all-women group at Yale, and she wanted a group that
sang music with low-walking base lines. All of our songs have [this specific base
line] and that is very unique to a lot of a cappella music.
TSL: Did you all
aspire to be in an a cappella group when first coming to Yale?
Jollie: I didn’t really come into Yale thinking that I was
going to do a cappella—I did theater in high school so that’s what I anticipated
doing in college. It was such an amazing experience because I was new at school
and there was this group of [a cappella] girls who were willing to accept me. It
was a really awesome thing to do my freshmen year, and [was also] unexpected
for me.
TSL: How did being
in a cappella affect your college experience thus far?
Parmer: I think it is really neat to immediately form these
bonds—when you sing with people you form a sort of bond that you don’t get with
other people. To have that right off the bat [coming into college] is great.
TSL: Where are you
touring?
Parmer: We do a spring and a winter tour every year. Our spring
tour is in Southern California this year. We have spent five days in the Los
Angeles area—mostly in Pasadena and Westwood. And tomorrow we are going down to
San Diego for a week.
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