Well blended voices! Clever arrangements!
10/11/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Reviewing Christmas music is a passion of mine. "A Cappella" (voices only, no instruments) is the most difficult musical format. Musical instruments provide richness and depth difficult to achieve by human voices alone. To overcome this limitation, the voices must be very good, they must be given excellent arrangements to perform, and they must be expertly "blended" by a top-notch director. Instrumental accompaniment also provides aural cues expected by modern listeners. Absent these cues, the music must reward listeners in some other way. Having said all that, I believe Jackson and Morgan did a very good job compensating for the lack of instruments with good, well-blended voices and with several clever arrangements. I tip my hat to them! My favorite track was "SILVER BELLS", with the "bell chorus". I considered this to be the most playful arrangement on the record. I also enjoyed the "SILENT NIGHT/JOY TO THE WORLD" mix. Every Christmas record includes SILENT NIGHT, and I was pleased to see them do something unusual with it. The two songs worked well together.I like "HE GAVE US THE CHILD". The lyrics are strong, and the Christian style is, of course, appropriate for sacred music. I appreciated the gospel arrangement and vocals.Overall, I enjoyed the nice, easy listening style of the CD. Jackson has a very good voice and he uses it to good effect, particularlyon the pop standards - "WINTER WONDERLAND", "WHITE CHRISTMAS", and "THE CHRISTMAS SONG"."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1