“We want to broaden the sound to find a new audience,” he said. “If anybody is changed by this, it’s me.”The choir actually began changing how Western listeners heard harmonies far earlier than the ’80s. Stars like Frank Zappa, David Crosby and Graham Nash repeatedly marveled over their vocal techniques in interviews, fueling interest in the release. Then, in 1975, the Swiss ethnomusicologist Marcel Cellier released a cassette of the choir on his own label, based on field recordings he had made since the 1950s. Ms. Gerrard, who recorded for 4AD at the time, first heard the women with that release.

Source: New York Times May 28, 2018 14:03 UTC