Love from King’s (Download)

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The King’s Men

Released 2 February 2018

SKU: KGS0023-DOWNLOAD
 Available as a cd

Acclaimed close harmony group The King’s Men return with Love From King’s, an album of beautiful new arrangements of romantic pop & jazz favourites, featuring classic tracks by Adele, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Simon & Garfunkel, Michael Bublé and more.

The King’s Men is made up of singers from the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge and nine of the fourteen arrangements on this album were written specially for this recording by current and former members of the group. Unlike many close harmony groups, The King’s Men record most of the tracks together in a natural acoustic, instead of tracking each voice separately in a studio. This results in stronger musical cohesion and a more authentic sound.

Previous albums by the King’s Men include the ★★★★★ album Twelve Days of Christmas, which was described by Gramophone as having “all the cosiness and geekiness of a garish Christmas jumper”. The group’s first album on the King’s College label, After Hours, shot to #1 in the iTunes Classical Charts on release.

About The King’s Men

The King’s Men has a schedule that is as busy as it’s ever been, and in addition to the Choral Scholar’s commitments in King’s College Choir. As well as the annual tours of the north and south of England, when the group splits into two groups of seven, the King’s Men has performed its own concerts recently in Iceland and East Asia, as well as concerts in the US as part of a King’s College Choir tour.

The groups’ expanding recording catalogue has received critical acclaim, and not all of it is close harmony. Under its previous name, Collegium Regale, the group’s two albums promoting under-appreciated composers from the European Renaissance on the Signum label. The 2006 recording of music by Orlando Lassus received five-star reviews from The Times and The Daily Telegraph, the latter listing it in its top ten discs of the year. In 2008, Collegium Regale recorded music by Giaches de Wert transcribed for the first time by a member of the group, and receiving its first performance since the later 16th century. This release was similarly well received.

More recent recordings by the King’s Men have featured contemporary music. After Hours and Twelve Days of Christmas, both released on the King’s College label, feature pop and jazz arrangements, as well as festive favourites and more reflective music. These contemporary styles of music include some particular favourites among the Choral Scholars. From spiritual songs to Michael Jackson, they are almost always arranged for close harmony by current or former members of the group and a bit different from music sung from the stalls of King’s College Chapel.

Unlike its professional ‘competitors’, The King’s Men faces the ever-present challenge of a membership in perpetual state of flux. With most student completing their degrees in three years, it only takes two years for the majority of personnel in the King’s Men to change. In some respect, though, this can be a tremendous stretch, for each year heralds a fresh set of voices and ideas about where the group should go. Indeed, The Times once wrote that ‘the mystery is how the Choir achieves its gorgeous blend with such transitory, albeit overlapping, personnel’. That it has flourished for so long is testament to its ability to change in new and interesting directions while retaining its high standards of musical integrity.

1 Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby? 4:09 B Austin, L Jordan, arr. James Oxley
2 Billie Jean† 3:09 M Jackson, arr. Harry Bradford, Sebastian Johns
3 When She Loved Me† 3:23 S McLachlan, R Newman, arr. Benedict Kearns
4 What a Wonderful World† 4:06 L Armstrong, B Thiele, G D Weiss, arr. Harry Bradford, Sebastian Johns
5 Everything† 3:46 M Bublé, A Chang, A Foster-Gilles, arr. Ruairi Bowen
6 Autumn Leaves 3:29 J Kosma, arr. Roland Robertson
7 Isn’t She Lovely† 2:40 S Wonder, arr. Harry Bradford
8 Misty† 2:45 E Garner, J Burke, arr. Sebastian Johns
9 Scarborough Fair 3:25 Folk song, arr. Keith Roberts
10 Rolling in the Deep† 3:56 A Adkins, P Epworth, arr. Benedict Kearns
11 O Waly Waly 3:16 Folk song, arr. Guy Turner
12 Quizás, Quizás, Quizás† 2:20 O Farrés, arr. Toby Young
13 Fever 3:39 E Cooley & J Davenport, arr. Peter Foggitt, ed. James Mawson
14 I Carry Your Heart* 3:19 Toby Young
Total playing time – 47:22

* Commissioned for this recording

† Arranged for this recording

KGS0023 Booklet Thumb

Recorded at 96kHz 24-bit PCM at St George’s Church, Chesterton, 20-22 July 2016 and 26 April 2017;
and at King’s College, Cambridge, 17 July 2017.

Producer & Editor Benjamin Sheen
Recording Engineers Matthew Dilley, Benjamin Sheen
Mastering Engineer Nick Watson

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