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Music With A View: Visions Of Christmas

By Jim Santella
December 15, 2003
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Various Artists
Concord
2003

Compiled from A Concord Jazz Christmas, Playboy Latin Jazz Christmas, Late Night Christmas Eve, White Christmas, The Charlie Byrd Christmas Album, and A Concord Jazz Christmas 2, this program of winter holiday favorites includes four “camera angles,” which portray different visual aspects of the holiday season.

You can switch casually between “camera angles” during play. Each visual accompaniment is intended to brighten your spirits in a different manner. A virtual fireplace gives you cozy warmth to relax with the music. A winter wonderland of snow fallen landscapes provides gentle memories of the season. A display of annual holiday lights and decorations lifts one’s spirits, while “angle four” provides complete artist, album and recording information for the track that’s playing.

Concord has selected solo renditions as well as cohesive ensemble arrangements and full orchestra settings. The program includes Scott Hamilton’s lush tenor ballad, Rosemary Clooney’s classic Christmas wish, Charlie Byrd’s solo guitar musings, Karrin Allyson’s straight-ahead interpretation of the holiday spirit, Marian McPartland’s solo piano Christmas gift, and Gene Harris in his prime. It’s the kind of compilation that can be enjoyed again and again without failed interest. Both the album’s visual scenes and its audio compilation represent an ideal gift for this Christmas.

Approximate Running Time: 60 minutes.

Track Listing: Silent Night; Angels We Have Heard on High; Santa Claus is Coming to Town; I’ll Be Home For Christmas; Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas; God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen; O Tannenbaum; Little Drummer Boy; The Christmas Song; What Child Is This? (Greensleeves); Coventry Carol; Good King Wenceslas; It Came Upon a Midnight Clear; White Christmas.

Personnel:Scott Hamilton- tenor saxophone; Paquito D’Rivera, Jesse Davis- alto saxophone; Ali Ryerson- alto flute; Dave Valentin- C flute; Randy Sandke- trumpet; Dave Samuels- vibraphone; Andy Narell- steel drums; Charlie Byrd, Ron Eschete, Jeff Linsky, Howard Alden, Rod Fleeman- guitar; Allen Farnham, Paul Smith, Marian McPartland, Alan Broadbent, David Hazeltine, Dario Eskenazi, Gerry Wiggins, Gene Harris- piano; Bob Bowman, Oscar Stagnaro, Peter Washington- bass; Todd Strait, Mark Walker, Terry Clarke- drums; Mary Stallings, Marlena Shaw, Karrin Allyson, Rosemary Clooney- vocals; others.

Special Features:
Angle One: Virtual Fireplace
Angle Two: Images of Christmas
Angle Three: Animated Christmas Lights
Angle Four: Artist/CD Information

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