Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Allen Toussaint & Friends: A New Orleans Christmas

324

Allen Toussaint & Friends: A New Orleans Christmas

By

View read count
Allen Toussaint & Friends: A New Orleans Christmas
The various artists that appear on this 1997 Christmas album make it a cross-genre collection of R&B, C&W, pop/rock, blues, and jazz items suitable for infusing that annual Christmas spirit. Lead vocalists for the lyric-oriented Yuletide favorites include Raymond Myles, Larry Hamilton, Tricia Boutte, Grace Darling, Wallace Johnson, and James Andrews.

With Allen Toussaint’s spirited piano accompaniment and a Satchmo-inspired trumpet introduction, James Andrews sings "Christmas in New Orleans." Andrews’ bright trumpet melodies and lively vocalizing warm the room, as does the New Birth Brass Band on "Jingle Bells." As if marching through the streets, Andrews leads the band – tuba, snare drum, bass drum, and all – in a rousing rendition that includes informal singing as well. Grace Darling’s tenor sax introduces "Merry Christmas, Baby" in a vibrant rhythmic blues-based arrangement; her saxophone fills augment the ensemble’s organ/guitar accompaniment. Toussaint’s dramatic solo piano offerings of "Silent Night, Holy Night" and "Winter Wonderland" allow for his feelings of the seasonal music to be shared; one reverential and the other loose and carefree. With a "hot time in the old town tonight" party atmosphere cookin’ things up, the New Birth Brass Band ushers in "Santa’s Second Line" with its own unique charm; trombonist Corey Henry and trumpeter Andrews remind us of the traditional New Orleans jazz roots. The friends who show up for Allen Toussaint’s seasonal fest have various ways of expressing the same message: one of health & happiness.

Personnel

Allen Toussaint
piano and vocals

Album information

Title: A New Orleans Christmas | Year Released: 1998 | Record Label: NYNO

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

Near

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.