All Angels

[Admin]

I bet none of you saw this thread coming either. ;D

It is no secret that I absolutely love All Angels and have done for over five years. They were one of the main influences behind me discovering the classical crossover genre. The first time that I heard Daisy Chute, Laura Wright, Charlotte Ritchie & Melanie Nakhla, I just fell in love with their voices and the way that they harmonized with each other they just couldn't be matched.

I was gutted when Laura left the group in 2010. I really like Rachel Fabri who replaced Laura, and she brings something different to the group, but along with Daisy, Laura's voice was one of the key elements behind that All Angels sound which brought them the early success. They have gone indie now but I still adore All Angels and their concert in the Elgar Room at the Royal Albert Hall last year remains one of my favourite concerts of theirs.

I have lost count of the amount of times I seen them live, I once saw them twice in three days, in two different countries (albeit Dublin ;D) and I will never forget the moment that they dedicated 'Songbird' to me during a concert at Buxton Opera House. The future doesn't look good for them at the moment but I remain in hope. I hope that I have the opportunities to give Mary-Jess the same level of support over the next few years.

Here are a few videos....







I was delighted when Laura emerged again as a solo artist and I will always support and follow her career closely. I would like to say the same for Daisy although her background is jazz which I am not really into, but she has a lovely voice and is so talented musically, she arranged a few of All Angels later compositions and plays a few instruments too. I have also been following Charlotte's acting career.

I also run a forum for All Angels which was set up by the management team at Hayley Westenra International and handed over to me in 2008.

You can visit the forum here - allangels.proboards.com

Dazza

[John]

All Angels have been my absolute favourite since I first properly discovered them in late 2009. I had been vaguely aware of them previously from occasional TV appearances but I didn't really listen to a lot of music then.

A major change in my life made me seek out some of Hayley Westenra's music, and Amazon recommendations quickly led me to All Angels and a few others.
The first All Angels album I bought was 'Into Paradise', and that is where it took me as soon as I listened to it. 'All Angels' followed within a week and I bought 'Fly Away' as soon as it was released.

My first classical crossover concert was All Angels at Epsom in April 2009 and that experience prompted me to make my first post on Nicola's Classical Crossover forum, which was actually my first participation in any internet forum. Concerts and forums (fora?) have become a huge part of my life since then, but basically you have All Angels to thank for my presence here.

Daisy's has always been the stand-out voice for me, so full of expression and packed with emotion, and that gorgeous smile never fails to melt me. Laura's versatile voice was also an essential ingredient of that distinctive All Angels sound from their first three albums. Charlotte's voice is the one where I have noticed most development in the time that I have known them. It is wonderful to see how she and Melanie have grown vocally to fill some of the gaps left by Laura's departure. We used to joke on the CC forum that we could never tell the difference between them anyway. Rachel is a lovely addition to the group; her voice adds a different dimension to the sound rather than just being a Laura substitute.

I saw All Angels live four times in 2010 (just once with Laura) but sadly had to miss the Elgar Room concert last year. I really hope that there will be more opportunities to see them again in the future.

[bobscullen]

Thank you Dazza, like you I love this group. Probably the best female classical group yet. Unfortunately I did not get the chance to see them Live and I am still v grateful for getting my CDs signed by them all when they performed in York Minster in 2008 I think? Top group I hope they continue and be successful. Bob

Sent from my HTC Explorer A310b using ProBoards

[Admin]

I agree with everything that you have said about Daisy, John. I love watching her perform, she is immensely talented and so full of emotion, none more so than this wonderful performance of Cucurrucucu Paloma from another of my favourite concerts at Leicester Square Theatre in 2010.


This video was recorded by Drew, if you see this, I hope you join us here.

Dazza

[ken]

Hi Dazza,

I had almost forgotten about All Angels. Are they still going? I have heard no news of them for a very long time and their official website has disappeared so I wondered if they may have disbanded. I hope that is not so for they always used to sound amazing (but I haven't heard the new line-up since Laura left).

Ken

[Admin]

Hi Ken,

All Angels are still together but have gone indie after Universal dropped them. Rachel Fabri replaced Laura and they did a few concerts around the UK last year as well as flying over to the US to perform in Los Angeles. I have seen them a few times since Rachel joined the group.

Since going indie they have released an EP called Starlight which you can download from Amazon HERE

Here is a video of the girls performing with Rachel from last years concert in the Elgar Room at the Royal Albert Hall. One of my favourite concerts.



It has been very quiet recently but I am still in contact with the girls and if there is any news I will post it on the All Angels International forum linked in my first post.

Dazza

[ken]

Okay, thanks Dazza. If Universal dropped them, that explains why the official site has vanished.

Thanks for the video which I have just watched. They sound good and I would never have realised that Rachel was new if I didn't know. I have now bookmarked their forum and will look in when I can... but this forum will take priority!

Ken

[Admin]

Of course Ken!

I'm glad that you enjoyed the video, Rachel will never be Laura but she adds to the group in a different way, she's a lovely person too.

They started their own official site after leaving Universal, the last that I was informed it will only be down temporarily.

Dazza

[bobscullen]

Let's hope it all works out for them. It would be a loss if they were to split up.

Sent from my HTC Explorer A310b using ProBoards