Search - Magnolia Jazz Band :: Christmas Time with the Magnolia Jazz Band

A surprising Christmas treat

Sharon | Colorado | 10/21/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Where do you think a band with the name "Magnolia Jazzband" comes from? New Orleans? Somewhere way down south? Nope! These boys hail from Norway! Although this band does not come from anywhere even close to the cradle of the Mississippi Delta, it is one of the most authentic jazz revival bands out there.I have only two slight criticisms of the CD: (1) this is a live recording from the University Hall in Olso, Norway. The sound recording is excellent, however, I found the applause a bit distracting. (2) Some of the songs on this album are long and repetitive. I think this is in part because the songs are Christmas songs, which in their nature are just a couple of bars, repeated over and over. The other part is that some of the songs on the album are just plain long - (I heard the bells on Christmas Day is 6:19 min long and O Tannenbaum is 8:11 min long). Instead of taking a song and highlighting a particular instrument, the band goes through all the verses and highlights a different instrument each time.With that said, the musicianship on this album is fantastic! The trumpet, trombone and clarinet really shine through on this album.The album is well balanced, with an equal mix of uptempo-swingy (such as the upbeat 'Blue Christmas') and blues tunes (such as 'Silver Bells'). 'Mary's Boy Child' is a particularly good selection, having a uptempo-island feel to it, featuring an excellent muted trumpet.This album is definitely not your regular Christmas music fare. It even had my husband, who is not a jazz fan in particular, tapping his feet! Throw it on your stereo with a couple of other Christmas albums to brake up the "stodginess" of traditional Christmas music."