Track List
O TannenbaumAway In a MangerChristmas Song, TheRing Christmas BellsGod Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen [Part One]God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman [Part Two]It Came Upon a Midnight ClearHell's BellsJesus MariaJingle BellsO Holy Night - (live)Joy To the World - (live)Album Remarks & Appraisals:
"For many, the idea of their favorite jazz artist releasing an album of seasonal songs usually smells of crass commercialism or pure pandering, but leave it to pianist/composer/arranger Carla Bley to produce an album that's as reverentially in the spirit of the season as it gets, while being musically deep enough to fit within her substantial discography with complete relevance. And it is reverential. Accompanied by longtime partner, bassist Steve Swallow, and the German Partyka Brass Quintet, Bley's contrapuntal arrangement of the opening "O Tannenbaum" begins literally and beautifully; if ever there was music to evoke images of sitting in a comfortable chair by the fire, on a cold, snowy winter's night, this is it... Most Christmas albums are only good for a limited time each year. The songs Bley has chosen may have such iconic significance as to be tied to a specific time of year, but the arrangements and playing are so good that Carla's Christmas Carols transcends the season for which it's intended; an album that will also bring more than a little welcome cool to the heat of the summer." -All About JazzAlbum Notes
Personnel: Axel Schlosser (trumpet, flugelhorn, chimes); Adrian Mears (trombone); Christine Chapman (horns).Editor: Ricarda Molder.
Arranger: Carla Bley.
Carla Bley and Christmas carols? You bet. She loves them and has incorporated them into her live sets for decades now. On CARLA'S CHRISTMAS CAROLS, recorded in 2008 at La Buisonne Studio in the south of France, she and bassist Steve Swallow took a couple of days off a European tour with the Partyka Brass Quintet and cut 10 of the 12 selections there. The other two pieces -- "O Holy Night" and "Joy to the World" -- were taken from a concert performance four days earlier in Berlin. Bley's arrangements are both elegant and sometimes quirky, but always engaging and fun, and show a complete love of the original material.
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Audio Samples
O TannenbaumAway In a MangerChristmas Song, TheRing Christmas BellsGod Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen [Part One]God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman [Part Two]It Came Upon a Midnight ClearHell's BellsJesus MariaJingle BellsO Holy Night - (live)Joy To the World - (live)
