Chanticleer

Named after the “clear singing rooster” in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, San Francisco-based choral ensemble Chanticleer—in its 36th year—adds a new album to its 40-album-plus discography: Someone New. Chanticleer—dubbed “the world’s reigning male chorus” by The New Yorker magazine, and known for its masterful interpretation of Renaissance music—gets into non-Renaissance territory (as the prolific group sometimes likes to do) on this CD, delving into the musical depths of rock and pop-music gems such as Queen’s “Somebody to Love,” Tom Waits’ “Temptation,” Belgian-Australian musician Gotye’s “I Feel Better” and Peter Gabriel’s “Washing of the Water.” Chanticleer’s thoughtful, musically impeccable handling of each of the 13 tracks on this album is stunning. “I Feel Better,” for one, is transformed from a bouncy, discotheque-worthy number to an exhilarating, gospel-like piece in the hands of this 12-piece all-male choir. Basso profondo Eric Alatorre shines on the Johnny Cash classic “Ring of Fire.” Jazz tunes, too, get the Chanticleer treatment: Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Chega de Saudade” is milked for every drop of beauty it contains, and Dave Brubeck’s “Strange Meadow Lark” (“All alone, meadowlark/ Are you dreaming of the moons that burned so bright/ And of love in flight?”) is ethereal. Fans of breathtaking choral music will surely love this disc—a gorgeous soundtrack for the holidays.