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!
Showing posts with label Holiday Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holiday Music. Show all posts
Friday, December 26, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Happy Birthday, Weird Al!
As Weird Al celebrates the 20th anniversary of his 29th birthday, let us all contemplate his unique talents.
OK, that didn't take long, did it?
But seriously: writing parodies of popular songs, parodies which themselves skewer popular culture, is not nearly as easy as it seems. I know whereof I speak. I have the itch to write such parodies, too, and I have to admit that I don't do it nearly as well as does Mr. Yankovic.
Nevertheless, I am offering my latest, in appreciation for a kindred spirit, as my tribute to Al's birthday [I cannot believe I am 2-years-plus older than he is.--Ed.]. Have a happy one, Mister White and Nerdy!
It's The Most Horrible Time Of The Year
(to be sung to the tune of the Christmas carol "It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year," written in 1963 by Eddie Pola and George Wyle)
It's the most horrible time of the year
With the endless campaigning
And no one explaining
How the heck we got here
It's the most horrible time of the year
There'll be speeches for hearing
And opponents for smearing and
Ads cutting into your favorite shows,
There'll be mud-slinging stories and
Tales of gory lies spread in campaigns of
Long, long ago
It's the most horrible time of the year
The incessant door-belling and
Robocalls are compelling me
To drink more beer . . .
With the lies and mud-slinging
Politicians are bringing
Us unending fear . . .
It's the most abhorrent time,
It's the most disgusting time,
It's the most horrible time of the year!
[copyright 2008, Eclectic Iconoclast
all rights reserved]
Monday, December 11, 2006
Christmastime Is Here
There has been lots of talk on the radio lately about people's favorite and least-favorite Christmas music. One person's Handel's Messiah is another person's Chipmunks' Christmas, Christmas Time Is Here.
And vice versa.
My personal list, like everything else about me, is eclectic. I love the entire recording of The Bells of Dublin, but Elvis Costello's The St. Stephen's Day Murders alone is worth the price of admission. Wouldn't be Christmas for me without it. It's a little slice of reality--laced liberally with black humor--that curbs holiday schmaltz.
The Manhattan Transfer's entire Christmas Album is wonderful. I can't hear their take on Santa Claus Is Coming To Town enough. "Look out, Old Santa is back!" It's not even remotely one of my favorite Christmas songs. Manhattan Transfer's take on it is that good.
Nor can I get enough of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass's Christmas Album. The whole thing is a delight. I don't have enough air to blow a horn to save my life, but I've always had an affinity for horn music--especially when it has rhythm. This album reeks of rhythm.
And, God help me, I like both of The Brian Setzer Orchestra's Christmas albums for the same reason. If you haven't heard either Dig That Crazy Christmas or Boogie Woogie Christmas, give them each a listen sometime. They have irresistably catchy rhythms, so they are fun, which for me goes a long way toward easing the stresses of the always too frenetic holiday season.
I used to love everything Christmas-y by Mannheim Steamroller. After a painful personal encounter at one of the Steamroller's Christmas concerts, however, I find I cannot listen to its holiday music without re-experiencing a great deal of emotional distress. [And they say no one remembers pain. Hah!--Ed.] Too bad for me. The music is glorious.
Unlike that of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, that is. Mannheim Steamroller did it first, and did it much better. The TSO is just loud and overwrought. That's a great disappointment. Based on what I'd read before I ever heard anything by the TSO, I was fully prepared to like its music. No such luck. But it sells well, so people out there must enjoy it. Good for them. They can have it.
I have many recordings of carols arranged for voice and choir(what a shock!), brass, pipe organ, orchestra, music box, and even glass armonica--all of which enhance my holidays greatly. Heck, when I'm feeling peckish, I actually get a kick out of listening to Hooked on Christmas. Disco Christmas carols?!? Who knew?
Handel's Messiah and J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio also make my "must listen to every year" list. The power and majesty of this music are comforting, oddly enough. Why do I like this music so? Probably for the same reason I prefer "high church"-type ceremonies and Gothic cathedrals and the like to their more prosaic "low church" cousins. They seem more reverential and in keeping with the true spirit of the season than, for instance, does a song like Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer.
Wouldn't you know, however, that my three all-time favorite Christmas CDs are jazz-oriented? Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration, on Reprise records, produced in chief by Quincy Jones, is brilliant. Highlights of Handel's Messiah, arranged in genres from call-and-response to soul to blues to rap, and performed by everyone from Al Jarreau to Stevie Wonder, Take 6, The Boys Choir of Harlem, and Mike E.,to name just a few, is guaranteed to get you up and dancing, filled with the joy of the Lord. It is simply great, from first note to last.
On the cooler side of jazz, guitarist Kenny Burrell's Have Yourself A Soulful Little Christmas has become another of my holiday sine qua nons. I picked up my copy from the Jazz Heritage Society's bargain bin, and believe you me, it is a bargain-and-a-half. Frankly, I am surprised at how much I enjoy listening to this album. [OK, OK. I'm old enough to remember--heck, to have--LPs, so please don't castigate me for using "recording," "album," and "CD" interchangeably. I can't help it. But all the selections I've discussed here are on CD in my own collection.--Ed.] It's thoroughly soothing, like sipping a warm glass of mulled wine to take away the chill of having been out in the cold and snow. Even when there hasn't been any (real) cold or snow. Listen to it, and your soul will be serene.
But my all-time favorite is Vince Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas. The instrumental of Christmas Time Is Here perfectly evokes the stillness in the nighttime winter air just after a snowfall. It is the quintessence of peacefulness. [Don't everyone break into "There's A Kind of Hush," now.--Ed.]
And Linus and Lucy is, well, Linus and Lucy. Why do you think I named my little heathens after the Van Pelt siblings?
And vice versa.
My personal list, like everything else about me, is eclectic. I love the entire recording of The Bells of Dublin, but Elvis Costello's The St. Stephen's Day Murders alone is worth the price of admission. Wouldn't be Christmas for me without it. It's a little slice of reality--laced liberally with black humor--that curbs holiday schmaltz.
The Manhattan Transfer's entire Christmas Album is wonderful. I can't hear their take on Santa Claus Is Coming To Town enough. "Look out, Old Santa is back!" It's not even remotely one of my favorite Christmas songs. Manhattan Transfer's take on it is that good.
Nor can I get enough of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass's Christmas Album. The whole thing is a delight. I don't have enough air to blow a horn to save my life, but I've always had an affinity for horn music--especially when it has rhythm. This album reeks of rhythm.
And, God help me, I like both of The Brian Setzer Orchestra's Christmas albums for the same reason. If you haven't heard either Dig That Crazy Christmas or Boogie Woogie Christmas, give them each a listen sometime. They have irresistably catchy rhythms, so they are fun, which for me goes a long way toward easing the stresses of the always too frenetic holiday season.
I used to love everything Christmas-y by Mannheim Steamroller. After a painful personal encounter at one of the Steamroller's Christmas concerts, however, I find I cannot listen to its holiday music without re-experiencing a great deal of emotional distress. [And they say no one remembers pain. Hah!--Ed.] Too bad for me. The music is glorious.
Unlike that of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, that is. Mannheim Steamroller did it first, and did it much better. The TSO is just loud and overwrought. That's a great disappointment. Based on what I'd read before I ever heard anything by the TSO, I was fully prepared to like its music. No such luck. But it sells well, so people out there must enjoy it. Good for them. They can have it.
I have many recordings of carols arranged for voice and choir(what a shock!), brass, pipe organ, orchestra, music box, and even glass armonica--all of which enhance my holidays greatly. Heck, when I'm feeling peckish, I actually get a kick out of listening to Hooked on Christmas. Disco Christmas carols?!? Who knew?
Handel's Messiah and J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio also make my "must listen to every year" list. The power and majesty of this music are comforting, oddly enough. Why do I like this music so? Probably for the same reason I prefer "high church"-type ceremonies and Gothic cathedrals and the like to their more prosaic "low church" cousins. They seem more reverential and in keeping with the true spirit of the season than, for instance, does a song like Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer.
Wouldn't you know, however, that my three all-time favorite Christmas CDs are jazz-oriented? Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration, on Reprise records, produced in chief by Quincy Jones, is brilliant. Highlights of Handel's Messiah, arranged in genres from call-and-response to soul to blues to rap, and performed by everyone from Al Jarreau to Stevie Wonder, Take 6, The Boys Choir of Harlem, and Mike E.,to name just a few, is guaranteed to get you up and dancing, filled with the joy of the Lord. It is simply great, from first note to last.
On the cooler side of jazz, guitarist Kenny Burrell's Have Yourself A Soulful Little Christmas has become another of my holiday sine qua nons. I picked up my copy from the Jazz Heritage Society's bargain bin, and believe you me, it is a bargain-and-a-half. Frankly, I am surprised at how much I enjoy listening to this album. [OK, OK. I'm old enough to remember--heck, to have--LPs, so please don't castigate me for using "recording," "album," and "CD" interchangeably. I can't help it. But all the selections I've discussed here are on CD in my own collection.--Ed.] It's thoroughly soothing, like sipping a warm glass of mulled wine to take away the chill of having been out in the cold and snow. Even when there hasn't been any (real) cold or snow. Listen to it, and your soul will be serene.
But my all-time favorite is Vince Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas. The instrumental of Christmas Time Is Here perfectly evokes the stillness in the nighttime winter air just after a snowfall. It is the quintessence of peacefulness. [Don't everyone break into "There's A Kind of Hush," now.--Ed.]
And Linus and Lucy is, well, Linus and Lucy. Why do you think I named my little heathens after the Van Pelt siblings?
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
My Best Christmas
In the winter of 1964, when I was 7 1/2 years old, my parents and I lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Every Christmas we spent there was glorious, but 1964 was my favorite. You see, that was the year I first started having doubts about the existence of Santa Claus . . . and my parents conspired to reinvigorate my belief in that Jolly Old Elf . . . and it worked.
One of our family's Christmas traditions was to drive around town after dark on Christmas Eve, looking at everyone's lights and outdoor displays. In 1964, just as we climbed into the car, my dad ran back into the house to get his wallet (or so he said). He was gone for no more than one or two minutes, I swear. (Remember, being a Type A baby, I have always had a very accurate sense of time passing.) After he came back, he drove us throughout town, and finally up into the mountains to look over the entire city. It had snowed quite a bit that year, and it was beautiful, ethereal even.
Lo and behold! When we got back home, all the presents were under the tree!
I confess to being dumbfounded. My belief in Santa was solidified, for at least another year.
I found out only years later that my mom and dad had prepared all the presents and hidden them very close to the tree (which mystifies me to this day, as there wasn't really any place in the house we lived in to do that), and Dad had just moved them under the tree in one swoop whilst allegedly getting his wallet.
It was a magical Christmas, and to this day, remains my personal favorite.
I wish you all equally wondrous holidays!
One of our family's Christmas traditions was to drive around town after dark on Christmas Eve, looking at everyone's lights and outdoor displays. In 1964, just as we climbed into the car, my dad ran back into the house to get his wallet (or so he said). He was gone for no more than one or two minutes, I swear. (Remember, being a Type A baby, I have always had a very accurate sense of time passing.) After he came back, he drove us throughout town, and finally up into the mountains to look over the entire city. It had snowed quite a bit that year, and it was beautiful, ethereal even.
Lo and behold! When we got back home, all the presents were under the tree!
I confess to being dumbfounded. My belief in Santa was solidified, for at least another year.
I found out only years later that my mom and dad had prepared all the presents and hidden them very close to the tree (which mystifies me to this day, as there wasn't really any place in the house we lived in to do that), and Dad had just moved them under the tree in one swoop whilst allegedly getting his wallet.
It was a magical Christmas, and to this day, remains my personal favorite.
I wish you all equally wondrous holidays!
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