Alex Willebrand Garret Vliet Ethan Rossi Ryan Flat Miles Gibbs Erich Brady M Jordan Joey Aigner Gunnar Neufeld Luke McCord Zane Zakroff Jayce Klein Brandon Perez Noah Osteroos Gunnar Chapman Matthew Winford The CU Buffoons (sometimes stylized as BUFFoons) is the oldest collegiate a cappella group at the University of Colorado-Boulder,[1] founded in 1962 by Dr. Oakleigh Thorne II with help from Don Grusin and Roger Nelson.

In June 1954, Dr. Oakleigh "Oak” Thorne II (the previous musical director, or "pitchpipe", of the Yale Whiffenpoofs) moved to Boulder to receive his doctorate in biology at the University of Colorado.

[11] In 1961, after a performance in Denver for the Yale Association, Thorne brought the Whiffenpoofs to Macky Auditorium on CU's campus to sing.

Shortly after the concert, Don Grusin and Roger Nelson, two CU undergraduates, approached Oak to ask if he could help them start such a group.

Consisting of 11 covers of show tunes, barbershop standards, and popular songs of the day, the project was fairly rudimentary, but impressive for the time.

Enjoying the perks of their newfound local fame, the group decided to continue to record and release covers of their favorite songs.

[16] The group decided on a happy medium of 13 songs this time around, with overall quality being lost a bit due to the sheer quantity of music they had released in 1965.

It is also the first instance of a recording of a song that survives in the group's modern day repertoire, with "Cecilia" being later re-recorded on 2010's Bell Time,[17] as well as being a concert and private performance staple.

From 1967 to 1977, the group continued to develop their sound and release more albums, including 1969's Those Magnificent Men,[18] 1972's Hangin’ On,[19] and 1976's Colorado Trail.

[21] This is considered the high point of this era, as Tulagi was also booking acts such as The Eagles, The Doobie Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, ZZ Top and even Miles Davis during the late 70's.

On the contrary, during this time a cappella continued to see growth across the US and world at large, gaining a wider audience and seeing increased opportunities for acts wishing to share their voices.

Their next few outings, Fine Malt A’capella,[24] No Time for Love,[25] and So They Say,[26] all continued to build on the foundation of the previous, with the lattermost beginning to showcase a new facet of their sound, vocal percussion.

While not a defined role within the group until recently, vocal percussion is a staple of most Buffoon covers arranged from 2000 onward, mirroring an already growing trend in professional a cappella.

In 2007, the group released A Night at the Zoo,[27] which featured an arrangement of the song "Landed", originally written and performed by Ben Folds.

This album was produced with the express purpose of being submitted for consideration by year-end best of collegiate a cappella compilations Voices Only[32] and Varsity Vocals’ BOCA.

With their profile on the decline following “The Great Debate” and a lack of equal follow-up, the group decided to once again switch gears and create something new.

Recorded in closets with a much smaller budget than recent projects, Christmas Love still managed to be a solid outing for the group.

With a large selection of new arrangements, the group took a more detail oriented approach to the album production process, aiming to create a more full experience.

[40] Beginning with a set of jazz standards and old folk tunes, the group quickly found that as time passed, not only were the songs getting old after continuous rehearsal and performance, but they were entering a new age of sound.

Moving on to RnB, alternative, country, and modern pop, the group now boasts over 100 unique arrangements, of which about 25-30 are in consistent rotation for performances.

Having performed all across Colorado, the Rocky Mountain region, and the western United States as a whole, garnered local and national attention, the Buffoons continue to be committed to the idea that Dr. Thorne proposed to the CU student body in 1961, that given the great size and diversity of the University of Colorado's student population, creating an a cappella group that can entertain and inspire shouldn't be any issue.