What would happen if all the kiddies wrote to Santa but Santa never got the letters? Would Christmas be cancelled? Thankfully, the Postal Service is pretty reliable. The Interwebs? Not so much. Used to be my web host notified me automatically when there was a comment pending moderation. When I stopped getting notifications, I just assumed no one was commenting. Well, that turned out not to be the case. Brigitte of Lie In The Sound, one of my favorite people on the planet, wrote me recently to say how happy she was to see me back at the blog thing. She mentioned that she'd left a comment or two which caused me to check the comment log. Sure enough, there was nearly a year's worth of comments waiting for me. So I apologize to you all. I wasn't ignoring you on purpose. I just didn't know.
My favorite missed comment was from Rob Parissi critiquing my critique of his 2012 Christmas single. Rob, you're right. I'm nobody. I have no credentials to speak of. I'm just a guy who loves music and listens to an ungodly amount of Christmas music, for some reason. I'm a freak. Or a geek. Or both. A guy with an itchy google finger and a blog. Heck, they'll give anybody a blog. Listening to as much Christmas music as I do, some things hit you right and some don't. I just found your mix of Funk and Smooth Jazz an odd cocktail is all. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. And I say (somewhere on this blog) that I'm far from the final word on any of this stuff. But what I did do, hopefully, was let a few people know that you'd done a Christmas single so that they could check it out for themselves. Because, in all fairness, it wasn't well publicized and I think very few people knew about it. And guess what. I just did it again. So you're welcome. Long after this world turns to dust, Rob, I'm sure your work will live on and mine won't. And I'm cool with that.
Now back to unwrapping presents.
My favorite missed comment was from Rob Parissi critiquing my critique of his 2012 Christmas single. Rob, you're right. I'm nobody. I have no credentials to speak of. I'm just a guy who loves music and listens to an ungodly amount of Christmas music, for some reason. I'm a freak. Or a geek. Or both. A guy with an itchy google finger and a blog. Heck, they'll give anybody a blog. Listening to as much Christmas music as I do, some things hit you right and some don't. I just found your mix of Funk and Smooth Jazz an odd cocktail is all. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. And I say (somewhere on this blog) that I'm far from the final word on any of this stuff. But what I did do, hopefully, was let a few people know that you'd done a Christmas single so that they could check it out for themselves. Because, in all fairness, it wasn't well publicized and I think very few people knew about it. And guess what. I just did it again. So you're welcome. Long after this world turns to dust, Rob, I'm sure your work will live on and mine won't. And I'm cool with that.
Now back to unwrapping presents.
I'm not holding out any hope for the long promised Pat Benatar or Meatloaf Christmas albums. But we have received word, albeit by carrier pigeon, that we might get a Heart Christmas album this year. Now, we have been given no details into the possibilities of what the Wilson sisters, Ann and Nancy, might have in mind--just a title ("Home For Christmas") and a release date (November 11). At present, its strictly a digital release (no hard copy--not this year). Now I recall that, last December, Heart did a Christmas concert in Seattle (with lots of "friends") which was broadcast live on AXS TV (the videos are all over YouTube). And, OK, the title of that concert was "Home For The Holidays". Close enough. Things are beginning to add up, doncha think? You don't? Oh. Well, I'm going to keep going anyway. I'm suspecting that we're going to get a Live Christmas album--the soundtrack to last year's holiday show--and possibly an accompanying DVD (on Sirius recently, Nancy said the group had both an album and a DVD in the works, though she didn't specify Christmas). Songs performed at last year's concert include Joni Mitchell's "River", "All Through The Night", "Please Come Home For Christmas" and..."Stairway To Heaven"? How'd that get in there? (Hope they leave it in, though; the choir was awesome.) And Nancy and Sammy Hagar did "Santa's Going South For Christmas". So that'd be pretty cool, doncha think? Hey, if it winds up being a studio album, so much the better (we did get that Christmas single last year, didn't we).
Just to give you a few more seconds to finish listening to Heart before listening to the Living Sisters...
You know who I feel sorry for this year? Tim Neely. Tim Neely compiled and wrote the indispensable "Christmas Record Price Guide" for Goldmine, chronicling all the vinyl Christmas releases in history. And, even though Goldmine has no intentions of publishing an updated edition, Tim still keeps track of every year's new vinyl releases. Most years, that's probably not too daunting a task. But this year, we're being overwhelmed with vinyl. I mean, look at The List. Most years, its a sea of red (new CD releases) with a dot or two of blue (vinyl releases). This year, there's an awful lot of blue on there. It's Global Warming, I tellz ya! It's almost as though the record labels are figuring this is the last year they'll have to make money. Maybe they know something we don't. Maybe the end of the world is indeed nigh. Anyway, more vinyl records for the schedule. October 14 will see the release of Dave Brubeck's "Christmas" and, on October 21, we'll get "An Oscar Peterson Christmas". Both were Telarc Jazz releases in the mid-90s and I don't think either has ever been on vinyl before. Cool beans! And, coming October 28, Friday music is releasing a limited edition vinyl pressing of Bobby Darin's "25th Day Of December". It's been remastered with care from the original Atco tapes and comes on collectors grade vinyl (180g) with original cover art. There's more, of course, but, suddenly, vinyl is so...uneventful.
And here's a little item from the overseas press. Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, who have an album of duets due soon, "Cheek To Cheek", have signed to do the television Christmas campaign for H&M stores. H&M is a clothing chain based out of Sweden, but they do have American stores as well. So here's hoping we get a Christmas duet out of the campaign. Otherwise, who cares?
Now back to our regularly scheduled blog post.
You know who I feel sorry for this year? Tim Neely. Tim Neely compiled and wrote the indispensable "Christmas Record Price Guide" for Goldmine, chronicling all the vinyl Christmas releases in history. And, even though Goldmine has no intentions of publishing an updated edition, Tim still keeps track of every year's new vinyl releases. Most years, that's probably not too daunting a task. But this year, we're being overwhelmed with vinyl. I mean, look at The List. Most years, its a sea of red (new CD releases) with a dot or two of blue (vinyl releases). This year, there's an awful lot of blue on there. It's Global Warming, I tellz ya! It's almost as though the record labels are figuring this is the last year they'll have to make money. Maybe they know something we don't. Maybe the end of the world is indeed nigh. Anyway, more vinyl records for the schedule. October 14 will see the release of Dave Brubeck's "Christmas" and, on October 21, we'll get "An Oscar Peterson Christmas". Both were Telarc Jazz releases in the mid-90s and I don't think either has ever been on vinyl before. Cool beans! And, coming October 28, Friday music is releasing a limited edition vinyl pressing of Bobby Darin's "25th Day Of December". It's been remastered with care from the original Atco tapes and comes on collectors grade vinyl (180g) with original cover art. There's more, of course, but, suddenly, vinyl is so...uneventful.
And here's a little item from the overseas press. Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, who have an album of duets due soon, "Cheek To Cheek", have signed to do the television Christmas campaign for H&M stores. H&M is a clothing chain based out of Sweden, but they do have American stores as well. So here's hoping we get a Christmas duet out of the campaign. Otherwise, who cares?
Now back to our regularly scheduled blog post.
Ooh, these presents are all sparkly and pretty!
Well this seemed to come out of nowhere, but I'm certainly happy it did. The Living Sisters is a "supergroup" specializing in harmony vocals. The group consists of Inara George (Bird & The Bee), Becky Stark (Lavender Diamond), and accomplished solo artists Eleni Mandell and Alex Lilly. They started singing together for fun (in assorted combinations) back around 2006, then began recording for realz in 2009. Most of the good singers I've met in my life love harmony vocalizing. Its really an incredible skill or gift to do it well.
Two releases behind them, now--"Love To Live" and "Run For Cover"--Christmas would seem to be a natural next step. I, too, love harmony vocals and the songs of the season lend themselves well to that. But, to me, the best part of the coming "Harmony Is Real: Songs For A Happy Holiday" is that the ladies have written EIGHT brand new holiday tunes. I, for one, can't wait to hear such future classics as "Kadoka, South Dakota" (say that five times fast) and "Neon Chinese Christmas Eve". And I always consider it an extra bonus when a Hanukkah track is included (though, by my math, it's one of the covers).
"Harmony Is Real: Songs For A Happy Holiday" is on Vanguard Records (so you know its good). Look for it October 28.
Well this seemed to come out of nowhere, but I'm certainly happy it did. The Living Sisters is a "supergroup" specializing in harmony vocals. The group consists of Inara George (Bird & The Bee), Becky Stark (Lavender Diamond), and accomplished solo artists Eleni Mandell and Alex Lilly. They started singing together for fun (in assorted combinations) back around 2006, then began recording for realz in 2009. Most of the good singers I've met in my life love harmony vocalizing. Its really an incredible skill or gift to do it well.
Two releases behind them, now--"Love To Live" and "Run For Cover"--Christmas would seem to be a natural next step. I, too, love harmony vocals and the songs of the season lend themselves well to that. But, to me, the best part of the coming "Harmony Is Real: Songs For A Happy Holiday" is that the ladies have written EIGHT brand new holiday tunes. I, for one, can't wait to hear such future classics as "Kadoka, South Dakota" (say that five times fast) and "Neon Chinese Christmas Eve". And I always consider it an extra bonus when a Hanukkah track is included (though, by my math, it's one of the covers).
"Harmony Is Real: Songs For A Happy Holiday" is on Vanguard Records (so you know its good). Look for it October 28.
1. Harmony is Real
2. Kadoka, South Dakota
3. Jingle Bells
4. Merry Happy Christmas
5. Skip the Sugar (Good Girl)
6. Christmas in California
7. Baby Wants a Basketball for Christmas
8. Little Drummer Boy
9. Neon Chinese Christmas Eve
10. Hanukkah
11. Silver Bells
12. Don't Go To Sleep
2. Kadoka, South Dakota
3. Jingle Bells
4. Merry Happy Christmas
5. Skip the Sugar (Good Girl)
6. Christmas in California
7. Baby Wants a Basketball for Christmas
8. Little Drummer Boy
9. Neon Chinese Christmas Eve
10. Hanukkah
11. Silver Bells
12. Don't Go To Sleep
We briefly mentioned David Myles at least once before. The Canadian roots artist has been working on "It's Christmas" which is now available for pre-order through Maple Music. Although the price for the disc is more than fair, it IS an Import, so your postage will be up there (fwiw, these Canadian albums generally issue domestically the following year and I haven't given up hope there will be a domestic release THIS year). But Maple Music does accept Paypal, so you've got that going for you...which is nice. "It's Christmas" will begin shipping October 22, give or take. The CD comes with 5 Christmas cards. And, hey, you can get the album on white vinyl, if you'd prefer. That version also comes with 5 Christmas cards, as well as a download card. For each record or CD sold, a donation will be made to Canada's food banks. David chose an interesting selection of cover tunes, including Jimmy Wakely's "Star Of Hope" and the old Buck Owens chestnut "Blue Christmas Lights". But I confess I'm fascinated by the title "Santa Never Brings Me A Banjo".
 | It’s Christmas The Christmas Song Star of Hope I’ll Be Home for Christmas Santa Never Brings Me A Banjo Let It Snow Blue Christmas Lights Les Cloches Du Hameau It Snowed The Gift Sleigh Ride White Christmas Silent Night |
Are you familiar with Maysa? Well, if you're not, you should be. Most of us first took note of Maysa singing with the British Jazz/Funk group Incognito. But, before that, she'd backed Stevie Wonder. Her debut solo album was released in 1995 and she's done a lot of work with a lot of different artists in a lot of different media (including appearances on The Tonight Show and Arsenio Hall). Her last few records have all scored well on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz charts and that's the thing, you see. She's got the range, the voice and the talent to do it all. She's got the smoothness to seduce with Soul, the perfect pitch and intonation and the natural ability to improvise to amaze you with Jazz, and the power to blow you away with Funk or Gospel. The name that keeps coming to my mind is Sarah Vaughn, but that's probably unfair to both of them. Anyway, Maysa brings all of her talents to bear with each song she sings. Her voice is rich and lush like honey-dipped chocolate. You need to know Maysa. She will win you over with a single note. She's that good.
As it happens, Maysa has recorded a Christmas song or two before. Keeping in mind that she gets better every day, I think those two songs will leave you longing for more. Back around 1997, she contributed a gorgeous version of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" to the soulful collection "Tis The Season". More recently, she did a slightly jazzier version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (with Brian Culbertson) on "Soul Of The Holidays". "A Very Maysa Christmas" hits the streets October 28.
As it happens, Maysa has recorded a Christmas song or two before. Keeping in mind that she gets better every day, I think those two songs will leave you longing for more. Back around 1997, she contributed a gorgeous version of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" to the soulful collection "Tis The Season". More recently, she did a slightly jazzier version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (with Brian Culbertson) on "Soul Of The Holidays". "A Very Maysa Christmas" hits the streets October 28.
Joy To The World
Jingle Bells
The First Noel
The Night Before Christmas/Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Silver Bells (feat. Gerald Albright)
This Christmas (feat. Will Downing)
It's The Holidays
Christmas Time Is Here
The Little Drummer Boy
Pray For Peace
You're all familiar with the Icon series. Its a way of repackaging material to sell again. They usually carry a budget price and they're often released toward the end of the year. The reasoning is pretty obvious. You're out Christmas shopping for your kids or for a friend of a friend and you've got no clue what to get them. But you know they like so-and-so and, hey, here's a CD that's pretty cheap by that very so-and-so and it looks like its got tunes even I have heard. Perfect! Never mind any real fan of that artist actually has all that music already. At least they knew that you liked that artist and you'd have bet they didn't even know that much about you. There's a ton of Icon Christmas releases coming out this year and I'm paying them very little attention. But this one..... I looked at the track list on "Icon Pop Christmas Favorites" and said, hey, this is a little different. I don't think a number of these tracks have been released on hard copy of any kind before. Sure, the Anberlin track has made the rounds. But Owl City's "Peppermint Winter"? Not so much. And Javier Colon? How many people do you suppose remember that Colon was the first season winner of The Voice? How many of them even knew he had a digital Christmas album (well, EP)? And any set with The Bird and The Bee draws my attention. So, if this carries the usual Icon budget price tag, it's going to be worth picking up. And, if not, its still worth taking note of. Look for "Icon Pop Christmas Favorites" (and also "Icon Country Christmas") on October 21.
 | Happy Christmas (War Is Over) - MAROON 5 She's All I Want For Christmas - LLOYD Peppermint Winter - OWL CITY Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - KEYSHIA COLE Wish List - NEON TREES The Christmas Song - JAVIER COLON Winterlove - PARACHUTE Santa Baby - FAITH EVANS Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - ANBERLIN Carol Of The Bells - THE BIRD AND THE BEE I'll Be Home For Christmas - CHRIS MANN |
There's some good holiday Jazz coming this year. I'd say we could use a little more Hammond B3 organ, though. And, what do ya know, here comes Joey DeFrancesco to the rescue. Joey is known as "The Master of the Jazz Organ". I have a hard time putting anyone ahead of Jimmy McGriff, but there's always room for more Hammond B3 organ Christmas Jazz. And Joey's about to give us two CDs worth. "Home For The Holidays" features one disc subtitled "The Party" and another subtitled "The Tradition". Is it any surprise "The Party" is the longer of the two? 23 tracks in all. Joey goes solo, trio, quartet and quintet at various points on the album--whatever the song calls for. In addition to the organ, he also plays piano and trumpet and even sings a couple of songs along the way. Tis a Merry Merry Christmas, indeed. "Home For The Holidays" is scheduled to hit the record shops October 28. And this just happens to be a record we have a pre-order link for (via Barnes & Noble).
| DISC ONE: THE PARTY 1. Mistletoe & Holly 2. Home For The Holidays 3. Baby Its Cold Outside 4. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas 5. The Twelve Days Of Christmas 6. What Are You Doing New Year's Eve 7. Christmas At 3 A.M. 8. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer 9. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 10. The Christmas Song 11. Merry Christmas Baby 12. I'll Be Home For Christmas 13. Blue Christmas | DISC TWO: THE TRADITION 1. Joy To The World 2. O Little Town Of Bethlehem 3. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear 4. We Three Kings 5. O Come All Ye Faithful 6. Silent Night 7. What Child Is This 8. Away In A Manger 9. The First Noel 10. O Holy Night |
Almost last, but certainly far from least...
There's a new Christmas record on the way from the too eclectic for words TriBeCaStan. I love these guys! It's a little too simplistic to describe them as a mix of Jazz and World Music, but that's the general condensed version. You may recall their first Christmas EP, "The Twisted Christmas". I sure do. There's always that point, every Christmas season, when the traffic and the crowds and the general chaos of the season reaches a ridiculous level. And that's when I pull out "The Twisted Christmas". It actually helps me to smile at the absurdity of it all, rather than letting it get the best of me. It's also a good disc for late night listening, because I always hear things I hadn't heard before. Just amazing stuff.
All we know about the coming TriBeCaStan holiday set is that its called "Coal Again!", its set for release October 28, and it contains 6 songs (two more than the last one). Expect the unexpected. Heck, expect the impossible. TriBeCaStan will deliver. Read our write-up of "The Twisted Christmas" and buy it, if you haven't already.
There's a new Christmas record on the way from the too eclectic for words TriBeCaStan. I love these guys! It's a little too simplistic to describe them as a mix of Jazz and World Music, but that's the general condensed version. You may recall their first Christmas EP, "The Twisted Christmas". I sure do. There's always that point, every Christmas season, when the traffic and the crowds and the general chaos of the season reaches a ridiculous level. And that's when I pull out "The Twisted Christmas". It actually helps me to smile at the absurdity of it all, rather than letting it get the best of me. It's also a good disc for late night listening, because I always hear things I hadn't heard before. Just amazing stuff.
All we know about the coming TriBeCaStan holiday set is that its called "Coal Again!", its set for release October 28, and it contains 6 songs (two more than the last one). Expect the unexpected. Heck, expect the impossible. TriBeCaStan will deliver. Read our write-up of "The Twisted Christmas" and buy it, if you haven't already.
Well, that's about all the presents I have for this trip. But I feel compelled to mention this non-holiday release that's coming soon. I think most of us grew up on "Willy Wonka" (the Gene Wilder one, not that Johnny Depp mess). It's kind of become a defacto holiday movie because somebody always shows it at Christmas time. Well, the group Primus has decided to pay tribute to that film by twisting the music like Oompa Loompas twist taffy. Says Les Claypool, "The notion wasn't so much to go in and redo the soundtrack note for note as much as it was to utilize the classic elements of the music yet try to reflect some of the darker undertones of the Roald Dahl books." The original band is back together for this one. "Primus & The Chocolate Factory" releases October 21. It might not be for most Christmas collectors, but I can't help but imagine their take on "Pure Imagination" is going to end up on somebody's mix-disc this Christmas.
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