I'm gettin' a bit tired. My Christmas Eve post may have to wait for Christmas morning, yo.
Is the sun down yet? I think it is. It's Christmas Eve AND the first night of Hanukkah. How cool is that? I've been hoarding videos over the past month or so. We'll get to all those a cappella groups. But I'm going to start right off with my pick of the best new Hanukkah recording of the year. Unfortunately, it isn't available for purchase or download, which I think is just a shame.
This song comes to us from The Gibbonses. If the name sounds familiar, it might be because they gave us a fine "Merry Christmas Baby" last year (still free at their website, by the way). I think its safe to say they've topped that this year. The Texas based husband and wife couple play Roots music of all kinds, so I just say they're Americana. Last year's holiday spin was a soulful strut and, this year, they're giving us something we get far too little of--a Country Hanukkah song.
As it happens, this is "THE Hanukkah Song", the one Adam Sandler gave us on SNL. But The Gibbonses do the best version I've ever heard. Better than Adam, even. And that's because they treat it like a real song, not a cute throwaway, and they wrote lyrics that aren't just a list of Jewish people (though there's a little of that). The video is great, too, but you can only see it at their Facebook page. But we can post the stream, and that's what we're gonna do.
Is the sun down yet? I think it is. It's Christmas Eve AND the first night of Hanukkah. How cool is that? I've been hoarding videos over the past month or so. We'll get to all those a cappella groups. But I'm going to start right off with my pick of the best new Hanukkah recording of the year. Unfortunately, it isn't available for purchase or download, which I think is just a shame.
This song comes to us from The Gibbonses. If the name sounds familiar, it might be because they gave us a fine "Merry Christmas Baby" last year (still free at their website, by the way). I think its safe to say they've topped that this year. The Texas based husband and wife couple play Roots music of all kinds, so I just say they're Americana. Last year's holiday spin was a soulful strut and, this year, they're giving us something we get far too little of--a Country Hanukkah song.
As it happens, this is "THE Hanukkah Song", the one Adam Sandler gave us on SNL. But The Gibbonses do the best version I've ever heard. Better than Adam, even. And that's because they treat it like a real song, not a cute throwaway, and they wrote lyrics that aren't just a list of Jewish people (though there's a little of that). The video is great, too, but you can only see it at their Facebook page. But we can post the stream, and that's what we're gonna do.
I've hoarded enough that I'm going to have to share at least two a night. I'm going to stick with the best of this year's new Hanukkah releases (so, hey, you won't have to come back cause it's all downhill after tonight (maybe, maybe not).
I have a pretty good Hanukkah library at this point because I work at it. I also happen to love Jazz. I love good Jazz. And I love good Hanukkah Jazz. There's some out there. Some very serious and deeply cultural. And some just swings. We got a new Hanukkah album this year from the Eyal Vilner Big Band. And it's a winner. When Kenny Ellis cut "Hanukkah Swings" in 2005, he got a lot of press. So did Erran Baron Cohen in 2010 with "Songs In The Key of Hanukkah". I've barely seen any mention of "Hanukkah" from the Eyal Vilner Big Band. And it's a great record--harkening back to the glory days of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, The Boswell Sisters...but it's Hanukkah music. If you're building a library of Hanukkah music across the genres, I think this is one you should get. You'll find it at CD Baby (Amazon only has the digital). Here's the familiar "Sevivon" done Big Band style and featuring the flute of Itai Kriss.
I have a pretty good Hanukkah library at this point because I work at it. I also happen to love Jazz. I love good Jazz. And I love good Hanukkah Jazz. There's some out there. Some very serious and deeply cultural. And some just swings. We got a new Hanukkah album this year from the Eyal Vilner Big Band. And it's a winner. When Kenny Ellis cut "Hanukkah Swings" in 2005, he got a lot of press. So did Erran Baron Cohen in 2010 with "Songs In The Key of Hanukkah". I've barely seen any mention of "Hanukkah" from the Eyal Vilner Big Band. And it's a great record--harkening back to the glory days of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, The Boswell Sisters...but it's Hanukkah music. If you're building a library of Hanukkah music across the genres, I think this is one you should get. You'll find it at CD Baby (Amazon only has the digital). Here's the familiar "Sevivon" done Big Band style and featuring the flute of Itai Kriss.
We've done Country and Jazz. How 'bout a little Punk Klezmer to round out the first night of Hanukkah? Yes, I said Punk Klezmer. Golem is the master of the form and they've been together since 2000, performing more and more original material as time has gone on. The lyrics are in English, Yiddish and Russian, mostly. They were with the Jdub label for a number of years, until the label folded in 2011 (I do miss Jdub). Their 2014 "hit" "Freydele" may well be their best known song. And, if you follow the lyrics (well, as much as you can follow), Freydele is a maydele who plays with her dreydele. Strictly speaking, that doesn't make it a Hanukkah song. But you can dance to it, so why not? You can get the tune pretty much wherever you get your downloads, including Amazon.
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