Its tenure with the Teldec and Warner Classics & Jazz labels seemingly at an end, the American male vocal ensemble Chanticleer has returned to its own label, with which its rise began. Any loss of marketing muscle is more than compensated for by what seems to be a new sense of adventure in the group's programming. Nothing on By Request is new in the large scheme of Chanticleer's repertory; they began as a Renaissance ensemble and expanded into various forms of contemporary music, and these are the components of the program ...
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Its tenure with the Teldec and Warner Classics & Jazz labels seemingly at an end, the American male vocal ensemble Chanticleer has returned to its own label, with which its rise began. Any loss of marketing muscle is more than compensated for by what seems to be a new sense of adventure in the group's programming. Nothing on By Request is new in the large scheme of Chanticleer's repertory; they began as a Renaissance ensemble and expanded into various forms of contemporary music, and these are the components of the program here. But they're put together in a fresh way, and each component is unusually well done. Sample Spring Dreams (track 6), by the underrated Chinese-born composer Chen Yi, with its beautifully controlled yells and whoops, and you will really hear what Chanticleer is capable of. The group's programs have expanded to include experiments with the adaptation of alternative rock, here represented by Erika Lloyd's Cells Planets, in an arrangement by Vince Peterson that closes the album. The...
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