1. (There's No Place Like) Home For The Holidays
2. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
3. Silent Night
4. Christmas Medley
5. Gras Bondye/Seigneur J'eleve Ton Nom
6. What Child Is This
7. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
8. The Christmas Waltz
9. Little Drummer Boy
10. Hymn To Freedom
LABEL WEB SITE
AMAZON
iTUNES
2. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
3. Silent Night
4. Christmas Medley
5. Gras Bondye/Seigneur J'eleve Ton Nom
6. What Child Is This
7. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
8. The Christmas Waltz
9. Little Drummer Boy
10. Hymn To Freedom
LABEL WEB SITE
AMAZON
iTUNES
I don’t know that there has ever been an album that reminds me more of a string of those blinking multi-colored lights.
Justin Time Records is perhaps Canada’s #1 Jazz label, and likely one of their finest exports as well. Born in 1983, the label has released many a fine Christmas album in the past, including Oliver Jones’ “Yuletide Swing” in 1994 and four “Justin Time For Christmas” compilations. This year, the label released another compilation, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” as well.
The label’s first three signees--Oliver Jones, Ranee Lee, and the Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir—are still with Justin Time after all these years. And someone thought it would be a grand idea to bring the three acts together for an all new Christmas recording, “A Celebration In Time”.
The artists take turns providing holiday cheer—red bulb, blue bulb, green bulb—they light up in succession. First up is Ranee Lee who has long been a favorite of mine. Ranee was always one of the best Jazz singers around, but I can not get over how much better she sounds now than ever before. There is so much more texture and depth in her vocals. How she managed to improve upon perfection, I will never know. Ranee has drawn comparisons to Sarah Vaughn and she shows why when she kicks things off with a grand and swinging rendition of “(There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays”.
Ranee turns the proceedings over to Oliver Jones who sparkles on a surprisingly fresh and lively arrangement of "We Three Kings Of Orient Are". And The Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir follows that with a glorious rendition of "Silent Night" (featuring Dayhana M. Santos as the vocal soloist and a ripping sax solo from Dan Martel), after which Oliver returns for a solo piano medley of "O Little Town Of Bethlehem" and "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear".
If your string of lights is anything like mine, there's always that one bulb that doesn't match any of the others. "Such a pretty color," you think to yourself, "I wish there were more of those". So it is that after four straight bring-down-the-house performances, we are treated to what I think is the best track on "A Celebration In Time". The Daphnee Louis Singers, a quartet from Haiti, have appeared with The Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir in the past and the Choir's director Trevor Payne was happy to have them along for this project. When the Daphnee Louis Singers perform "Gras Bondye/Seigneur J'eleve Ton Nom" with as much energy and joy as they do, you feel an almost irresistible urge to get out of your seat and dance—even if you can't understand a single word they're singing.
Ranee has the unenviable task of following the Singers and she presents an upbeat "What Child Is This?" whose arrangement, to me, sounds halfway between a bossa and a tango—with just a dash of Smooth Jazz tossed in for good measure. Then it's back to Oliver, who sounds very Oscar Peterson on "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". Ranee again gives a more uptempo spin to "The Christmas Waltz" than we usually hear and, here, I feel a bit of the spirit of the late Lena Horne. The Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir gives us a rousing reggae "Little Drummer Boy" (in English and French) before all of the artists join forces to close "A Celebration In Time" with Oscar Peterson's "Hymn To Freedom".
Normally, if I see "choir" anywhere on a record, I run as fast as I can in the other direction. But I'm happy I resisted that impulse in this case because "A Celebration In Time" is a solid Jazz effort with a few unexpected gifts in the bargain, and I love Jazz. As a Christmas album, "A Celebration In Time" succeeds on both celebrational and spiritual levels. If you're a fan of Jazz music at all, you really can't go wrong with anything from Oliver Jones, or Ranee Lee, so an album that features both PLUS The Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir AND the Daphnee Louis Singers is really a no-brainer.
And now would be a good time to stock up on Justin Time's holiday albums since the label has most, if not all of them, on sale for $10 each through the end of 2011.
Justin Time Records is perhaps Canada’s #1 Jazz label, and likely one of their finest exports as well. Born in 1983, the label has released many a fine Christmas album in the past, including Oliver Jones’ “Yuletide Swing” in 1994 and four “Justin Time For Christmas” compilations. This year, the label released another compilation, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” as well.
The label’s first three signees--Oliver Jones, Ranee Lee, and the Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir—are still with Justin Time after all these years. And someone thought it would be a grand idea to bring the three acts together for an all new Christmas recording, “A Celebration In Time”.
The artists take turns providing holiday cheer—red bulb, blue bulb, green bulb—they light up in succession. First up is Ranee Lee who has long been a favorite of mine. Ranee was always one of the best Jazz singers around, but I can not get over how much better she sounds now than ever before. There is so much more texture and depth in her vocals. How she managed to improve upon perfection, I will never know. Ranee has drawn comparisons to Sarah Vaughn and she shows why when she kicks things off with a grand and swinging rendition of “(There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays”.
Ranee turns the proceedings over to Oliver Jones who sparkles on a surprisingly fresh and lively arrangement of "We Three Kings Of Orient Are". And The Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir follows that with a glorious rendition of "Silent Night" (featuring Dayhana M. Santos as the vocal soloist and a ripping sax solo from Dan Martel), after which Oliver returns for a solo piano medley of "O Little Town Of Bethlehem" and "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear".
If your string of lights is anything like mine, there's always that one bulb that doesn't match any of the others. "Such a pretty color," you think to yourself, "I wish there were more of those". So it is that after four straight bring-down-the-house performances, we are treated to what I think is the best track on "A Celebration In Time". The Daphnee Louis Singers, a quartet from Haiti, have appeared with The Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir in the past and the Choir's director Trevor Payne was happy to have them along for this project. When the Daphnee Louis Singers perform "Gras Bondye/Seigneur J'eleve Ton Nom" with as much energy and joy as they do, you feel an almost irresistible urge to get out of your seat and dance—even if you can't understand a single word they're singing.
Ranee has the unenviable task of following the Singers and she presents an upbeat "What Child Is This?" whose arrangement, to me, sounds halfway between a bossa and a tango—with just a dash of Smooth Jazz tossed in for good measure. Then it's back to Oliver, who sounds very Oscar Peterson on "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". Ranee again gives a more uptempo spin to "The Christmas Waltz" than we usually hear and, here, I feel a bit of the spirit of the late Lena Horne. The Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir gives us a rousing reggae "Little Drummer Boy" (in English and French) before all of the artists join forces to close "A Celebration In Time" with Oscar Peterson's "Hymn To Freedom".
Normally, if I see "choir" anywhere on a record, I run as fast as I can in the other direction. But I'm happy I resisted that impulse in this case because "A Celebration In Time" is a solid Jazz effort with a few unexpected gifts in the bargain, and I love Jazz. As a Christmas album, "A Celebration In Time" succeeds on both celebrational and spiritual levels. If you're a fan of Jazz music at all, you really can't go wrong with anything from Oliver Jones, or Ranee Lee, so an album that features both PLUS The Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir AND the Daphnee Louis Singers is really a no-brainer.
And now would be a good time to stock up on Justin Time's holiday albums since the label has most, if not all of them, on sale for $10 each through the end of 2011.
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