Back in the 20th century, circa 1950s, city people came from a neighborhood. Before the time when everyone had a television, a record player or any of the current electronic gadgetry critical to one's very survival, people would listen to the radio as their chief form of entertainment. Some people would gather on the porch at night, or maybe on a street corner, and sing doo-wop. Others would have "sings" at church, and if there were no instruments available, a cappella singing became a format for young people to entertain themselves. While the group Unison is not a cappella, instead using acoustic instruments such as piano, guitar and violin, its members succeed in sounding a cappella, just as their musical forbears did so long ago.

A cappella singing is enjoying a renaissance of sorts, in that many people participate in clubs or groups to make a joyful noise. Although many of these groups are quite good, these same people may not have the training or desire to become major talents on the world stage. Thus, I am pleased to tell you Unison, with its debut album, All Things Considered, has managed to combine its members' artful talents and rich voices to become a trio of extremely talented and smoothly rhythmic singers.

With the recent loss of such R&B legends as Lou Rawls and Wilson Pickett, to name but two, it is good to know that three professionally trained singers such as Adrian Gordon, Leo Bradley and Miguel Ruiz are around to pick up the musical torch. These men have been friends since childhood, are all Miami natives and started their singing careers as college students while variously studying the music business, psychology and music education. In addition, each member of the group writes and arranges his own music.

The first cut, "Intro," is smooth, sweet and mellow and closely resembles music sung by Lionel Ritchie or Barry White. The fourth song on the album, "Patient Lover," consists of beautiful acoustic guitar and makes one think of starry nights on a late summer evening. My only complaint is that this CD is too short, especially since the group shows great promise. I look forward to hearing more from them.