In Unity performs local benefit concert

Features

   The late hour didn’t keep a good-sized crowd from showing up at 9:30 p.m. Saturday night at the Keene Adventist Church for the In Unity reunion concert. After an icebreaker opening from local folk singer and humorist Elia King, ten current and former In Unity singers performed for a friendly crowd. Many audience members seemed to remember how it all began.
    The group formed on the Southwestern campus in September 1991. It started one day when student Chris Morris, now an academy teacher in San Diego, was sitting at the piano in the men’s dorm. Six guys gathered around and soon were hammering out an a cappella version of “What a Fellowship.” The following Saturday they showed up unannounced and performed for the college Sabbath school.
    They’ve been performing original songs and arrangements ever since, traveling worldwide and opening for bigger names like Cindy Morgan, Patty Cabrera, Six Pence None the Richer and GLAD, despite busy schedules and “real jobs” that have spread them across the continent. Their style is varied, with interwoven layers of pop, jazz and black gospel. Their harmonies are tight and complex. With two albums under their belts, they admit to looking for any excuse they can find to perform and “cut up” together.
    In Unity’s roots still run deep in Keene. Original member Keith Gray is Southwestern’s vice president for enrollment. Tenor Joshua Samaniego, a member since 1994, teaches fifth grade at Keene Adventist Elementary School.
The group warmed up, along with the audience, as the evening went on. Their self-deprecating humor and obvious commitment to Christ created the sort of comfort level you’d find at a Friday night afterglow. The mid-concert offering went to defray medical costs for a six-year-old girl’s kidney transplant.
    In Unity will be back to perform on December 19 at the Arlington Seventh-day Adventist Church. You can read more about them and pick up their CDs at http://www.singers.com/gospel/inunity.html. While you’re at it, check out Elia King’s bio and music at http://www.eliaking.com. No doubt we’ll be hearing more from him as well—and that’s a good thing.