Search - Rob McConnell :: Big Band Christmas

For Big Band fans, the BEST !!

01/08/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rob McConnell has created one of the best Christmas CD's for Jazz fans every produced. He has brought Jazz to a new level with his compulations in this CD. Songs such as "What are you doin' New Years Eve" and "Silver Bells" are tunes I will listen to all year around. This CD is a must for your Christmas collection."

"Holiday Big Band '40s style"

J. Lovins | Missouri-USA | 11/10/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Only Concord Jazz could come up with this fresh sound of Holiday music, the traditional big band genre is missing in todays world of music. The young crowd really love the new groups that have tried to duplicate this never to be forgotten era of the '40s. There have not been many Christmas recordings by big bands, but thanks to the talent of Rob McConnell's great arrangements and performance by his Boss Brass, swinging and taking some harmonically liberties we have the past right before us. McConnell arranges seventeen songs and carols, some traditional and a few new, but the warmth and feeling of this festive time of the year is the highlight...try it and see if you don't agree - "BIG BAND CHRISTMAS", is a sure stocking-stuffer for your fireplace!Total Time: 59:49 on 11 Tracks...Concord Jazz 4844...(1998)"

More than a Xmas album for Jazz fans, this is a reference fo

Carlos from Rio | Rio de Janeiro, RJ Brazil | 03/19/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"
Christmas Music is part of the American Way of Life. Year after year, American people get full of joy and the pleasure of listening to Christmas Music becomes a must.



Also artists from many different styles and their labels are very conscious about it. It is rare to find an artist from the traditional pop scene who has not recorded at least one Christmas Album. Unfortunately, this Christmas tradition in American music scene is fading away among young artists though sales keep hot in the season. This proves traditional pop artists have got a market niche which maintains year after year even selling the very same album that has been recorded many decades ago.



Repertoire is basically the same and this is another peculiar facet of Christmas Music. This is an indicator of the traditional `American way of buying music'. It is commonplace in the USA that many different traditional pop artists record the same hit song in a season. I remember one well-known song that has been recorded by Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Peggy Lee, and even Astrud Gilberto, besides its sensational original take. This shows Americans like to listen to that same song or repertoire as recorded specifically by their favorite artists.



It is different than the music industry and customers' mind in Brazil, for instance. If an artist records the same songs as other one does, he is minorly categorized as a `cover artist'. This is a bad category which labels the artist a minor artist, lacking creativeness as for Brazilian market parameters.



It is very interesting, anyway, to listen to the same repertoire as recorded by so many different artists from so many different times under so many different arrangement concepts. Comparison arises inevitably. Somehow, a delicious comparison. What's the best `Jingle Bells' from Johnny Mathis to Diana Krall? Who's recorded the most creative `Silent Night' - Wynton Marsalis or Nat King Cole? There is a killer `Jingle Bells' recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra under arrangement by Michel Legrand and with Jean Pierre Rampal on flute. Ooooh God!



Year after year, those albums are made available by continuous reissuing or not. Some even keep in the label's catalog on and on even out the Christmas season.



Sometimes a different album comes into the scene and this is the case for this `Big Band Christmas' recorded, arranged and played by one of the most creative big band leaders in the place, the Canadian Mr. Rob McConnell.



Some uncommon and some very common songs make up the program. Here what matters is the creative arrangements and the medley combinations Mr. McConnell loves to introduce in his albums.



Common Christmas songs here include `Let It Snow', `Silent Night', 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas', and others, all wrapped in original medley arrangements that make the difference. The world Christmas anthem by Mel Tormé `The Christmas Song' shows up here too, in a sensational instrumental take. Would you prefer it in a vocal take? I prefer both.



This is a great Christmas album. You'll specially love it if you are a Jazz fan. And if you are a Jazz fan, it is forceful that you may want to compare this album with Xmas' one by Stan Kenton. Compare their completely different bigband approaches. Delicious task!. Buy both. I love both!"