Avant-garde jazz composer and sax man John Zorn is said to be working on an upcoming Christmas album. We do know that Zorn recently finished a recording session with Faith No More vocalist Mike Patton on "The Christmas Song" (Patton and Zorn have collaborated on many projects in the past, so the pairing is no surprise). The Christmas album, tentatively titled "Christmas" (very clever), was announced as part of the Dreamers series--described by critics as the "pleasantly dark" side of Zorn's repertoire and featuring touches of surf guitar, Latin influence, and electronica. It's also been rumored that Zorn selected only Christmas songs written by Jewish composers (which shouldn't be difficult).
The thing to remember, here, is that Zorn has been rumored to be working on a Christmas record since at least 2001, and the man runs his own record label and does things on his own schedule--often working on multiple projects simultaneously. He's also repeatedly declared that he's through recording at the same time that he's declared another half-dozen or more coming volumes in his Masada group series. So its hard to predict anything Zorn, let alone a release date, with any certainty. Supposedly, though, "Christmas" should be available this year (and, no doubt, on vinyl).
For now, if you're looking for Christmas with that unique Zorn perspective, you'll have to find a copy of the 1987 out-of-print import "Joyeaux Noel". Zorn contributed a fully avant-garde "jazz noir" piece--"Blues Noel"--to that collection. You can find the digital track of "Blues Noel" as part of the "Godard/Spillane" set. You'll have to purchase the entire digital album at Amazon MP3, though the Christmas track can be had a la carte at iTunes.
The thing to remember, here, is that Zorn has been rumored to be working on a Christmas record since at least 2001, and the man runs his own record label and does things on his own schedule--often working on multiple projects simultaneously. He's also repeatedly declared that he's through recording at the same time that he's declared another half-dozen or more coming volumes in his Masada group series. So its hard to predict anything Zorn, let alone a release date, with any certainty. Supposedly, though, "Christmas" should be available this year (and, no doubt, on vinyl).
For now, if you're looking for Christmas with that unique Zorn perspective, you'll have to find a copy of the 1987 out-of-print import "Joyeaux Noel". Zorn contributed a fully avant-garde "jazz noir" piece--"Blues Noel"--to that collection. You can find the digital track of "Blues Noel" as part of the "Godard/Spillane" set. You'll have to purchase the entire digital album at Amazon MP3, though the Christmas track can be had a la carte at iTunes.
Looks like we'll be getting a Christmas single this year from British pop divas Leona Lewis and Jessie J. This was originally reported in January as something Jessie wanted to do, and reported again in April as something that was going to happen. But I held off mentioning it until now because, to the Brits, a Christmas record is any record released around Christmas time--regardless of what the song's about. This has been especially true since Simon Cowell's X Factor became the dominant source of UK chart material. But, recently, I came across a piece (didn't bookmark it--sorry) where Jessie was expressing her excitement that the studio had been done up in Winter Wonderland style to set the mood, so it now seems safe to speculate that this Christmas single will actually be a Christmas single.
Leona Lewis was the X Factor champion in 2006. Her biggest hit on this side of the Atlantic was the number one smash "Bleeding Love", which topped the charts in over 30 countries in 2007 and 2008. I've long thought that Lewis could turn in an excellent holiday CD. We won't get that this year, however; Lewis' current project is said to focus on her break-up with Lou Al-Chamaa--it's been described as a "venomous ode"--and is said to be much edgier than her previous work.
Jessie J. was one of the many artists Lewis called upon to help write material for the still untitled break-up album. Jessie J.'s debut album "Who You Are" hit #2 in the UK and #11 in this country earlier this year. Her biggest single on this side of the pond has been "Price Tag", a #1 hit in the UK, which reached #23 here. Jessie says that she admires Lewis' voice and has wanted to duet with her. She adds that, ideally, she'd love to do a Christmas single featuring a super group of female British chart toppers. But, at the moment, it seems the upcoming single will be limited to Leona and Jessie.
Leona Lewis was the X Factor champion in 2006. Her biggest hit on this side of the Atlantic was the number one smash "Bleeding Love", which topped the charts in over 30 countries in 2007 and 2008. I've long thought that Lewis could turn in an excellent holiday CD. We won't get that this year, however; Lewis' current project is said to focus on her break-up with Lou Al-Chamaa--it's been described as a "venomous ode"--and is said to be much edgier than her previous work.
Jessie J. was one of the many artists Lewis called upon to help write material for the still untitled break-up album. Jessie J.'s debut album "Who You Are" hit #2 in the UK and #11 in this country earlier this year. Her biggest single on this side of the pond has been "Price Tag", a #1 hit in the UK, which reached #23 here. Jessie says that she admires Lewis' voice and has wanted to duet with her. She adds that, ideally, she'd love to do a Christmas single featuring a super group of female British chart toppers. But, at the moment, it seems the upcoming single will be limited to Leona and Jessie.
For those who haven't tired of the formula and sound, what would Christmas be without a new release from Mannheim Steamroller? While details are scarce, "Christmas Symphony" is said to be an all new release which is set to arrive October 11. And, hey, we've even got preliminary cover art at the right. How cool is that? This year, fans of the Chip Davis creation can also look forward to a Mannheim Steamroller Holiday on Ice special, airing Thanksgiving weekend on NBC.
It would seem that Matthew West has been working up to his first full-length Christmas album for a while now. Just last year, the Contemporary Christian artist released a Christmas Edition of his "Something To Say" CD (the non-holiday version came out in 2008), featuring holiday duets with Amy Grant and Mandisa. As if that wasn't enough tinsel and marzipan for one man in one year, West followed that release with a digital single the following month, "One Last Christmas"--a St. Jude's charity effort. No more dancing around the issue for the Dove Award winning singer/songwriter. "The Heart of Christmas" will be released this October. If you're interested in scouting out a few of the original songs Matthew has written for the album, you'll find lyrics on his blog. Looks like good stuff.
Here's another overseas effort I'm looking forward to. Trine Rein was born in San Francisco but her mother and she moved to Norway when Trine was only about a year old. Following a series of cover bands, when she was in her teens and early twenties, and a stint with the hip hop group WIP, Trine signed with EMI and struck it big as a solo artist. Her 1993 debut, "Finders Keepers", not only sold a staggering 200,000 units in Norway (which translates to one out of every four households there) but more than twice that many in Japan. Several years and hits later, Trine decided she needed to catch her breath. She moved back to the states and took a break from music. In 2004, rested and ready, Trine moved back to Norway and began her comeback. 2010 saw the release of yet another stunning album, "Seeds Of Joy". And she has just announced that she's writing songs for a Christmas album. "YES! There will be a Christmas album!" she says. "When you pass the magic 40, it's ok to throw old principals out the window, like deciding to do something I said I never would!"
There's nothing remotely "foreign" about Rein's sound; her music would sound right at home on American radio. You'll hear lots of R&B influence and at least a touch of country as well. Listening to some of her music, I thought her delivery (not her voice, which is closer to Sheena Easton) was reminiscent of Bobbie Gentry. Or, to put it more precisely, I had the distinct impression that Bobbie Gentry might have a style like this had she been born in the era of American Idol (your mileage may vary).
There's nothing remotely "foreign" about Rein's sound; her music would sound right at home on American radio. You'll hear lots of R&B influence and at least a touch of country as well. Listening to some of her music, I thought her delivery (not her voice, which is closer to Sheena Easton) was reminiscent of Bobbie Gentry. Or, to put it more precisely, I had the distinct impression that Bobbie Gentry might have a style like this had she been born in the era of American Idol (your mileage may vary).
For the few folks who don't already own Amy Grant's Christmas CDs, EMI is making it easy for you this year--offering up a two-fer of the singer's 1983 "A Christmas Album" and 1999 "A Christmas To Remember". For the time being, you're on your own for Grant's more recent holiday albums. Amy's two-fer set is just one of 6 Christian artist holiday two-fers EMI plans to release in late September. We'll get the titles on our List and track listings on our PREviews page in the very near future.
Three Bridges
Final notes for this piece. Punk Pop rockers Bowling For Soup are working on a number of projects at the moment, among them a new Christmas album. Bowling For Soup dropped the digital delight "Merry Flippin' Christmas" just this past November and apparently enjoyed the experience enough to do an encore. The band doesn't say the new Christmas album will see release this year, but they don't say that it won't, either.
And, while I'm guessing a majority of our visitors are more interested in Bowling For Soup, we try to cover all genres, here. So we've got news of a couple of Southern Gospel groups working on holiday albums. Karen Peck and New River rank near the top of the contemporary Southern Gospel scene after 20 years and nearly 2 dozen albums. Their latest effort, "Reach Out", is available through the group's web site. Expect their Christmas album this fall.
Three Bridges has been together for about half as long as New River, but they already have a nice handful of Southern Gospel awards on their shelves and a decade's worth of solid CDs behind them. Three Bridges' Christmas CD will be their second, having previously released "Christmas" in 2007 (available through the group's web site). Their first Christmas CD was a fairly straight forward Southern Gospel affair, but it sounds like the trio is having fun with this latest effort, tentatively titled "Christmas Must Be Tonight".
And, while I'm guessing a majority of our visitors are more interested in Bowling For Soup, we try to cover all genres, here. So we've got news of a couple of Southern Gospel groups working on holiday albums. Karen Peck and New River rank near the top of the contemporary Southern Gospel scene after 20 years and nearly 2 dozen albums. Their latest effort, "Reach Out", is available through the group's web site. Expect their Christmas album this fall.
Three Bridges has been together for about half as long as New River, but they already have a nice handful of Southern Gospel awards on their shelves and a decade's worth of solid CDs behind them. Three Bridges' Christmas CD will be their second, having previously released "Christmas" in 2007 (available through the group's web site). Their first Christmas CD was a fairly straight forward Southern Gospel affair, but it sounds like the trio is having fun with this latest effort, tentatively titled "Christmas Must Be Tonight".
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