During the Spring of 1999, Steve Hawkins was singing Bass in the Sierra Madre Chorale, when the chorale attended a Los Angeles-Orange County Community Choral Festival. At the festival, a special vocal jazz group performed called Vocal Magic, a small ensemble from the Brea Community Chorale. The sound really captured Hawkins’s imagination and he decided to put a vocal group together to sing the same close harmony jazz style. The idea for Remember When was then conceived.
Hawkins had spent 7 years as a Barbershop Baritone and really enjoyed the close harmony group style. “I was always a fan of the small groups, the Johnny Mann Singers, the Hi-Los, the Anita Kerr Singers, and Manhattan Transfer. I really loved that sound.”
Remember When’s first public appearance was for the Los Angeles County Open House on October 5, 2002 at the Paseo Pasadena. The simple audition tape was not only accepted by the County’s Arts Commission, but the Pasadena Symphony as well. “It was quite an honor to be selected. The audience really responded well to our performance.”
Remember When specializes in vocal music of the ’20’s to ’40’s, Movie Musical Favorites, and Jazz standard tunes in a tight 4 part harmony style