Jabberwocks

The Jabberwocks of Brown University
Background information
Origin	Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Genres	Collegiate a cappella
Years active	1949–present
Website	Official Site

The Jabberwocks is the oldest a cappella group at Brown University. It began in 1949 as an offshoot of the traditional Men's Glee Club when four members decided to start their own independent singing group. In 1956, Brown Music Department chair Arlan Coolidge, frustrated that the group was getting bookings that would otherwise have gone to the Glee Club, referred to the Jabberwocks as "a misguided small group of students whose product is a type of vaudeville." The original Jabberwocks, a double quartet, "wore grey flannel suits, white button-down oxford shirts, striped ties and white buck shoes, and travelled to out-of-town concerts in a 1928 Rolls Royce."

The group temporarily disappeared in 1975, was resurrected in 1980, and survived a brief period in the mid-1980s when some singers tried to take the group professional. Over the decades the group's repertoire has ranged from 1950s doo-wop, to Motown to contemporary pop.

Though originally conceived as an all-male ensemble (with a brief co-ed period in the 1970s), the Jabberwocks affirm that gender is socially constructed and encourage any tenor/bass singer to audition, regardless of gender identity or expression.

The Jabberwocks of 1953

The Jabberwocks of 1956, Brown University

Fascinatin' Rhythm (1958)

A peace of ourselves (1969)

Streetnight (1984)

Hangin' Out (1988)

Stylin' By the Tum-tum Tree (1990)

The Sharpest Tools in the Shed (1992)

Liz's Slingback Boots (1993–1994)

Woonsocket (1996)

Sermons and Soda Water (1997–1998)

The Jabberwocks: Fiftieth Anniversary Anthology (1949–1999)

Listening Session (2007)

Breaking & Entering (2009)

Jabbertalk (2013)

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