They're Still Around?

The Persuasions

by Mickey Jou

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The Persuasions have spent the last 40 years singing a cappella all over the world: on a New York City basketball court where the original members first met, at an opening gig for Dionne Warwick at the Lincoln Center, even on an airplane. "After a New Year's Eve show [in Europe], we sang at the airport and kept going, all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, back to the U.S., just singing," recalls member Jimmy Hayes. Of the original five, only Hayes, Jayotis Washington and Joe Russell remain. Along with Ray Sanders, who stepped up to sing Toubo Rhoad's part after his death, The Persuasions are busy teaching new kid on the block Reggie Moore how to "turn it out." Says Hayes, "[Even now] when I get on the stage, it's like going back to the beginning."

Sat., Feb. 10, 8 p.m., $20-$35, Stockton College Performing Arts Center, Jim Leeds Rd., Pomona, N.J., 609-652-9000, www.stockton.edu/pac