Yet at the very pinnacle of the Faces' fortune and fame in 1973, Ronnie Lane ditched the satin and silk of stardom to create a fresh new ensemble steeped in traditional folk, blues, country, and pop which he aptly dubbed Slim Chance - a pun on their potential for commercial success.
But what did come as a delightful surprise in these recordings was the high-profile appearance of a fresh instrumental ensemble -- Le Concert d'Astrée, directed by Emmanuelle Haïm, a French harpsichordist -- on the international scene.
In "Simon Sez," a fresh and clever ensemble work that he has choreographed for his company, Ballet Tech, Eliot Feld looks back to his roots as a dancer.
Now directed by William Whitener, it is a fresh, young-looking, smallish ensemble: 24 professional dancers, as a news release put it, all of whom were on hand on Wednesday.
Now, designers are putting a fresh and modern spin on this time-honored ensemble with soft layers, graphic patterns and dazzling appliqués.
The costume designer, Susan Hilferty, created individualized looks for almost every character, even in the ensemble, and each new cast member gets a fresh, handmade set of clothes.
Nor has her string quartet, quartet-lab, as breathtakingly fresh an ensemble as any I've heard lately, come to the States or made recordings.
Allmusic writer Mark Deming called the album "Wilco's strongest album as an ensemble to date," and found the return to roots rock music a fresh new method for the band.
