What surprises most about this odd pairing is that it wasn't thought of sooner.

The a cappella South African choir, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, with its rich and complex chorus of male voices, is perfectly complimented by the strings of the English Chamber Orchestra.

Bach, Schubert and Mozart never sounded so hip.

Ladysmith, who found American fame backing Paul Simon’s “Graceland” in 1986, revive the song “Homeless” from that album. “Amazing Grace” and a vastly reworked do-wopish “Nearer My God to Thee” are also pushed together in a single lush Paul Simon arrangement.

Some of it ventures into jaunty show tune territory (“Dona Nobis Pacem”), but thankfully, not for long. Mozart’s “Ave Verum Corpos” backed by a rousing piano, sounds like it could be tumbling from any Methodist church. Schubert’s “Sanctus” doesn’t stray far from its German Mass roots, with Robert Brooks singing a tenor solo. It’s only the occasional vocal click and buzzing groan that reminds us the chorus is Zulu.

-Chris Jorgensen