Search - Carla Bley, Steve Swallow, The Partyka Brass Quintet :: Carla's Christmas Carols

Carla's Christmas Carols
Carla Bley, Steve Swallow, The Partyka Brass Quintet
Carla's Christmas Carols
Genres: Jazz, Special Interest, Pop
 
  •  Track Listings (11) - Disc #1

Christmas music has been an enthusiasm of Carla Bley's for decades, and both traditional and non-traditional seasonal pieces are here subjected to her offbeat wit and idiosyncratic arranging skills. The material includes h...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Carla Bley, Steve Swallow, The Partyka Brass Quintet
Title: Carla's Christmas Carols
Members Wishing: 4
Total Copies: 0
Label: ECM Records
Release Date: 11/3/2009
Genres: Jazz, Special Interest, Pop
Styles: Avant Garde & Free Jazz, Vocal Jazz, Holiday & Wedding, Vocal Pop
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 0602527124131, 602527124131

Synopsis

Album Description
Christmas music has been an enthusiasm of Carla Bley's for decades, and both traditional and non-traditional seasonal pieces are here subjected to her offbeat wit and idiosyncratic arranging skills. The material includes her inimitable arrangements of Christmas classics and a brace of Carla's own pieces - "Jesus Maria" (first recorded by Jimmy Giuffre back in 1961), and, giving the devil his due, "Hell's Bells". Carla's Christmas Carols was recorded in La Buissonne Studios in the South of France after a whirlwind tour of Europe at the end of 2008, and folds in two pieces from that tour (recorded live in Berlin). The pleasure that the musicians find in the material is unmistakable and, perhaps particularly after a glass of mulled wine, contagious.
 

CD Reviews

Carla Bley serves up a jazz classic
Christopher Johnson | Philadelphia, PA | 12/09/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Carla Bley has a remarkable musical sensibility, and brings together a wonderful ensemble here that's as comfortable serving up warm chorale-like brass arrangements as it is bursting into solo on top of a swinging jazz bass line (often in the same song). The arrangements are creative masterpieces - at once lyrical and humorous - with rich, unexpected chord voicings that will reward serious listeners without alienating the mainstream. The jazz world has always had a special connection with Christmas music - from Dexter Gordon's emotional take on Mel Torme's "Christmas Song" to Vince Guaraldi's lonely "Christmas Time is Here". The best tunes of the genre contain warmth, playfulness, and always a hint of sadness at the passing of time. This record so full of personality will sit well next to the classics of the idiom. It's a fantastic album."
Wonderful!
A. Leschinsky G. Gmbh | Cologne, Germany | 11/27/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Great recording. Emotional, but without getting sentimental. With love to the classic christmas melodies, but at the same time with delicate irony. Wonderful. Especially "Holy Night" on the electric bass is brilliant."
Perfect Christmas music
Margaret Watkinson | Topsham, ME USA | 02/02/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Love this album. She is an incredible arranger and composer and the jazz is perfect for any event- background at a dinner for two or party for 30! I never tire of the music (as most holiday albums get boring!) and continue to listen to it now- and it's february!"