The Chosen Gospel Singers are best-known for the fact that Lou Rawls was once a lead singer in the group, in the early '50s. Formed in Houston in 1950, the group's music was slow-burning, intense a capella gospel in a style reminiscent of the Highway QC's and the slower numbers by the Soul Stirrers and Pilgrim Travelers. Unlike many quartets of the era, there are no guitars or piano, while the percussion is kept simple but effective, mimicking the stomping of feet and clapping of hands. The quintet's sound is a pure link back to slave-era spirituals, yet it has a modern, post-jubilee intensity to it. On glorious, stomping dirges like "Don't You Know the Man" and "One Two Three" (their take on "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel"), the group is largely restrained, carrying a song to the very brink of dissolution, then backing off. On this outstanding album, they do let loose completely on occasion, as on the mic-shattering "It's Getting Late in the Evening."