New Holiday Music

As much as I must listen to my eternal favorites, I also enjoy listening to new holiday music every year. This year produced several CDs of note [pun intended--Ed.], and even a few disappointments.

Bela Fleck and The Flecktones' Jingle All The Way is remarkably eclectic. It got off to a somewhat slow start, with an almost tribal rendition of Jingle Bells which struck me as being on the edge of bizarre. On the other hand, Fleck's bluegrass take on Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride was downright inspired. But what can you say about someone who can and does play Bach on the banjo? The rest of the CD is much closer to inspired than to bizarre. I recommend it. Its final cut is yet another cover of Joni Mitchell's River, which has in its relatively short life become a massive "must do" piece. I think I alone have CDs by seven or eight different artists which include covers of River. They are all excellent and heartbreaking, all at once.

Truly great music withstands any treatment it is given. I've heard disco versions of several Beethoven works, and by golly, they ALL sound great. Mitchell's River likewise touches the heart no matter in which genre it is performed, no matter by whom it is performed. Joni's a genius. And that song is achingly, poignantly, beautiful. [Sometimes, however, it is possible to have too much of a good thing. I love Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, but find I cannot listen to parts of it without hearing the words to an Alpha-Bits commercial from the last 1960s: "It's the one and only cereal that comes in the shape of animals . . ." Let's face it: I'm hopeless.--Ed.]

Another CD worth your time and your ears is Enya's And Winter Came. Ever since I heard her CD single of Silent Night (Oíche Chúin in Irish Gaelic), I wondered when she was going to do an entire album. This one has been worth the wait. Her frequently dreamy, nearly meditative wall of sound perfectly accompanies a cold, snowy winter's day. I listen to her music, and I feel totally comforted and at home. Enya transcends the "New Age" pigeonhole she most frequently is assigned.

Another fun CD is Harry Connick, Jr.'s, latest, What A Night! A Christmas Album. I like Harry's singing very much--when Memphis Belle came out and I heard the soundtrack, the first thing I thought of was the old Looney Tunes wartime cartoon wherein Farmer Porky's hens start laying ridiculous quantities of eggs after they hear that scrawny rooster version of Frank Sinatra croon--their bobby socks roll up and down, they cry out "Oh, Frankie!" and faint . . . and suddenly lay entire pyramids of eggs. I had the exact same "Oh, Frankie!" response the first time I heard Harry Connick, Jr., sing. Crying out "Oh, Frankie!" in a female falsetto has become a bit of SOP whenever I hear anything by Connick, in a public place or not. I'm sure it embarrasses those who don't get the reference. I don't care.

The thing I like about his latest CD, however, is that he's included a few purely instrumental tracks. He's a superb piano player. It's about time he showed it off, even a little bit. His vocals on Zat You, Santa Claus?, are the wittiest I've heard since Louis Armstrong's, though, so I'm glad it's primarily a vocal performance CD.

On the other hand, I found one major disappointment with new holiday music this year. Spyro Gyra's A Night Before Christmas is entirely pedestrian. I am so underwhelmed! Spyro Gyra's first hit, the monster Morning Dance was such a marvelous work, and such a unique and happy sound, that I expected something similar from this CD. If I hadn't known which group performed it, however, I'd never have guessed it was Spyro Gyra. What happened? I have no idea. I will listen to it again, after a long break, to make sure my initial impression wasn't too hastily formed. But I'm going to have to wait until way past St. Patrick's Day to be able to give it a fresh ear.

Still, the old classics are the best. I don't think anyone will ever top the Vince Guaraldi Trio's A Charlie Brown Christmas. No one has to, either. I may have more CDs with covers of tunes from that album than from any other Christmas recording I own. Every one of them is quite good if not brilliant. As with Joni Mitchell's River, the ability of superior music to improve whatever treatment it's given makes itself manifest. That's to every listener's benefit. Merry Christmas and Happy Listening!