Search - Bill Leslie :: A Midnight Clear - Christmas in Mitford

16 traditional & original Christmas songs inspired by author Jan Karon's best-selling Mitford series. Internationally acclaimed recording artist Bill Leslie and nine other top flight musicians play on this beautiful and mostly instrumental album. The instruments include acoustic guitar, grand piano, violin, cello, flute, Celtic whistle, oboe, harp and hammered dulcimer. Leslie, whose previous five albums have all peaked at or near the top of the world music charts, calls this a special tribute album to Jan Karon. She designed the cover to the album and chose the title for the project. Karon describes the music as "wistful and consoling - the perfect antidote to the bane of modern anxiety." Tracks on this album will sound familiar to Karon's legion of loyal fans. They include Mitford Carol, Father Tim, Christmas in Mitford, Love is Born and Uncle Billy Watson. Traditional songs on the album include What Child is This, Angels We Have Heard on High, The Holly and the Ivy, I Wonder as I Wander and Christ Child Lullaby. The final track is a Leslie original and the only vocal piece in the compilation - Winter Rose. The album is a lush blend of beautiful instruments creating a warm fireside mood for the listener. In the liner notes Leslie describes his association with Jan Karon and how the album came to be. "It began with a Christmas gift from my sister Stephanie: a boxed set of Jan Karon books. I immediately fell in love with Jan's writing about Mitford. The mythical mountain village reminded me of Morganton, NC where I grew up. The stories triggered memories of the beautiful Episcopal Chuch that served as the center of my family's life in Western North Carolina. A few years later I met Jan during a live broadcast interview on WRAL Television in Raleigh where I work as a journalist and anchor. Everyone in the studio was impressed by her warmth, wit, grace and elegance. As Jan was leaving I slipped her a copy of one of my early albums. A few years later Jan called me and asked if she could play my music on her web site because it seemed like a good fit. I was thrilled! The Christmas album is a tribute to Jan Karon and her magical world of Mitford."