Time to celebrate Christmas! Nativity scenes or mistletoe? These three albums give their answers…
Tenor saxist Kirk Whalum has delivered albums of spirituals and tributes to his home town of New Orleans throughout the years, and this man of God shows his allegiance to his savior on this heartfelt collection of Christmas themes. He brings in a mass of guests, including Take 6, the Beneden Chapel Choir, with the songs ranging from wondrously intimate duets on “Es Ist Ein Ros Entsprungen” and “Lif Every Voice and Sing” , to the Sunday morning celebration of “A Babe Is Born” with choir or the fun “Seven” with Take 6. Kevin Whalum gives a great and encouraging message on “Thorns In The Straw” and Kortaland Whalum shouts for joy on the title tune. A heavenly host!
Blueser Mick Kolassa sings and plays Christmas themes on guitar with a team of Jeff Jensen/g, Bill Ruffino/b, Rick Steff/key, James Cunningham/dr, Eric Hughes/harm, Marc Franklin/tp and some backup singers. The songs capture a New Orleans spirit to the holidays, with a snappy take of “Frosty The Snowman”, and a swampy trip to the tree on “All I Want For Christmas is You”. Even “Winter Wonderland” and chunky and chimey, and Kolassa’s own “The Best Christmas Ever” is a fun and funky spiked egg nog.
Reminding us that Jesus our Savior was also a Jew, Jeremiah Lockwood plays solo guitar on 8 traditional Jewish tunes, but with a dash of the Cumberland Gap added. Lockwood’s tuning and tone are reminiscent of John Fahey. The alluring part of this music is that, keeping with the Jewish musical tradition, many of the pieces are in agonizing minor keys, so “Al Hanisim” and “Maoz Tzur” are filled with emotion, while the strummings of “Ritural” and “Drey Dreydl” are evocative pickings for circle dances of passion. Tribal tunes to treasure.