Zumbyes
Zumbyes is Amherst College's second oldest a cappella group.
History
The Zumbyes were formed in January 1950 by a group of eight FreshMen who were more interested in jazz than in traditional collegiate repertoire (barbershop, glees, etc.). During the Zumbyes' first year the group practiced nightly in the basement of Stearns Dormitory. It was then that, in the midst of a search for a distinctive name, Steve Miller, charter member baritone, pulled “Zumbyes” (pronounced zoom-buys) out of a hat and it stuck. From the outset, the Zumbyes adhered to the theory that blend is the single most important element of small group singing. Today, the Zumbyes continue to arrange songs with energy, complexity and significant jazz influence. In addition, the group's long history allows it the luxury of drawing on tried-and-true jazz favorites that have been arranged, written out, and kept safe by talented ZumAlums during the past five decades.
In 1989, the Zumbyes released their first CD entitled "The Amherst College Zumbyes." Since then, CD releases have occurred approximately every 2 years. The most recent CD released is "Feed The Puma," which received generally negative reviews from the RARB - a dedicated a cappella review website. The Zumbyes travel on alternate years from CD years, and usually occur during the college's spring break. Previous locations have included Florida, California, and Japan.
The Zumbyes won third place in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella finals, which took place on April 21, 2007.
Discography
- The Amherst College Zumbyes, 1989
- Form Follows Function, 1992
- Pirates of the Quabbin, 1994
- Lunchbox, 1996
- Save The Planet, 1998
- Zumbyes50, 2000
- Cowboy Faces, 2000
- Hats!, 2002
- Sputnik, 2004
- Feed The Puma, 2006
Current Members
- Tenor I - Brendan Horton '08 (Business Manager), Timothy Deary '09
- Tenor II - Chris Gillyard '08, James Park '08, Gregory Curreri '09 (Director), Ben Babbott '09E, Michael Muller '11
- Baritone - James Laff '09, David Wadden '10, Jake Reibel '10, William Bell '11, Jorrell Bonner '11
- Bass - Dean Chung '10, Darryl Weimer '10