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Kumar
November 25, 2015

Music for the holiday season

  • November 25, 2015
  • 56 replies
  • 15319 views
I haven't seen such a thread here and it seems to be a good time to start one.

I doubt there is much value in suggesting the pop carols and tunes by all the usual suspects; I reckon that albums that are unusual and not in play everywhere all day and night will be more interesting.

That said, a first list:
1. Paolo Fresu, Jazzy Christmas - excellent trumpet playing
2. Another excellent trumpet album for the season is by Tine Thing Helseth, My heart is ever present
3. Kurt Elling kicks off the 15 songs album Blue Christmas, a Blue note selection
4. Nana Mouskouri's The Christmas Album has many well known songs with a twist as well as a few sung in French, German and Greek
5. Hot Club Cool Yule, Hot club of San Francisco
6. Have yourself a soulful little Christmas, Kenny Burrell
7 Six string Santa, Joe Pass
8. Let it swing: A Jazz Christmas with Verve
9. An Oscar Peterson Christmas

On the more religious side:
1. Catholic Latin Classics - Richard Proulx and the Cathedral Singers
2. Advent at Ephesus - Benedictines of Mary
3. On Yoolis Night - Anonymous 4
4. A Baroque Christmas - Boston Camerata
5. Veni Emmanuel - Classical Academic Press, all in Latin and all the better for that
6. Christmas Music from Medieval and Renaissance Europe - Sixteen and Harry Christophers
7. A Boston Camerata Christmas - Worlds of early Christmas Music

And a couple of different strings albums:
1. Christmas - Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, on the Indian Sarod. Christmas music on an Indian instrument, by a Muslim maestro, can't get more diverse or secular than that!
2. John Fahey's Christmas Album

If anyone has any new and unusual music for the holidays, please write about it here:-).
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    56 replies

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    KumarAuthor
    December 6, 2015
    Yep, I wasn't sure how good the music would be at first, until realising that one hasn't anything to do with the other!
    BCM
    BCM
    December 6, 2015
    Some of the Venus album covers aren't bad, either, wink wink! :)

    Heh. Nice!

    Huge fan of Beegie... For decades! Her work is always consistent and never disappoints. Match made in heaven when she teamed up with Jack Jezzro for a couple, and with David Davidson. But nothing beats solo Beegie!
      BCM
      BCM
      December 6, 2015
      Forgot to mention... One of my favorite Christmas CDs is Beegie Adair's 'Winter Romance.' The instrumentation is movingly beautiful, her playing is stellar, and the song selections couldn't be more perfect. I always kick off the listening season with Frank Sinatra's 'Christmas Songs by Sinatra,' with 'Winter Romance' on deck. Only holiday tune that I don't care for is Santa Baby... but Beegie makes it tolerable for me here. 'Merry Christmas, Darling' by The Carpenters is my most favorite Christmas song, and Beegie takes it to a whole other level on this CD.
      BigN
      Enthusiast I
      December 6, 2015
      Kumar just wanted to add how much my wife and I have enjoyed listening to Eddie Higgins Christmas Sings II this afternoon. Apppreciate your recommendation. Now need to try Beegie!
      SONOS rules! 8 Zones and counting!
        KumarAuthor
        December 7, 2015
        Apppreciate your recommendation. Now need to try Beegie!
        Happy to help:-).

        Eddie has another good album with Nicki Parrott singing on many tracks: Jazz Christmas. As is Parrott's own Winter Wonderland with notable jazz back up including Houston Person on some songs. By the way, for any Aussies here, Nicki has sung the only Jazz version of Waltzing Matilda that I have heard on her album Fly me to the moon. She is a rare singer in that she also plays the double bass on her albums. A unique voice that I prefer to have on shuffled playlists because I find it hard to listen to her for an entire album. Another entry in the Venus Records catalog.

        I also like a couple of holiday CDs that have many Irish touches to them: Orla Fallon's Celtic Christmas and Moya Brennan's An Irish Christmas. Moya is Enya's sister and Enya has a holiday album as well but as with many of her songs, I found this also to be a case of "if you have heard her sing a couple of songs you have heard all her songs". Which is why the only song I bought from her album And Winter Came, is the Emmanuel song.
          chicks
          chicks
          December 7, 2015
          June Christy / This Time Of Year
            BCM
            BCM
            December 7, 2015
            I really like that one because it isn't all Mistletoe and Holly and White Christmas and the rest of the traditional songs. Beautiful instrumentation. Another one along those lines is Yo-Yo Ma's Songs of Joy and Peace. Not 100% Christmas tunes, but it fits well in the theme.
            buzz
            buzz
            Grand Maestro
            December 12, 2015
            Another tradition breaker: "Christmas Music/Metal Madness 2: The Nutcracker Suite Arranged for Electric Guitar & Rock" by Christmas at the Devil's House.

            Probably not something that one would want to play for a high society gathering, but it is an interesting juxtaposition of cultures.
              KumarAuthor
              December 13, 2015
              Trans Siberian Orchestra has Christmas albums that hew to a similar concept/taste as well.
              BCM
              BCM
              December 14, 2015
              Jaimee Paul ... Christmas Time Is Here. Fantastic vocal over some sweet jazz.
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