Customer Reviews

Christmas

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There are a handful of classic Christmas instrumental piano recordings that explore familiar Christmas melodies in innovative, yet melodic, ways. Among them are, of course, "A Charlie Brown Christmas," by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, "December," by George Winston and "Christmas Eve," by David Lanz.

Needless to say, Dave Brubeck was an established master of the keyboards long before the above recordings were made, however it wasn't until 1996 that he entered the genre with this tasteful jazz-flavored solo recording.

This is a warm, homey collection. I can picture Brubeck in a Christmas sweater, at a grand piano, fire blazing in the fireplace, with family and friends gathered around to listen. He obviously plays these tunes with affection, retaining the melody line so that it's easy to hum along, if one is so inclined.

What makes this recording interesting are Brubeck's rich chordal structures and surprising, yet not jarring, chord progressions that support these well-worn, and well-loved, songs.

If you're looking for a Christmas piano classic, this is another great one!

I recently purchased some new (to me) Christmas albums. One was David Lanz's THE CHRISTMAS ALBUM, which is an excellent album. Then I listened to A DAVE BRUBECK CHRISTMAS. Wow! This has immediately become one of my favorite holiday albums ever. Where Lanz's solo piano is uniformly elegant, introspective and subdued, Brubeck can also at times be playful and festive("Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," "Winter Wonderland," for instance). His jazz stylings are reminiscent of Vince Guaraldi's scores for the "Peanuts" television cartoons.

The album opens with a sprightly reading of "Jingle Bells," which Brubeck refers to in his liner notes as a fitting version to welcome arriving guests. The second to the last track is a more somber rendition to evoke the feeling of the ending of the day's festivities. Along the way, Brubeck offers some well known seasonal favorites along with a pair of originals: the stately "To Us Is Given" based on a 2,000-year-old Hebrew chant and "Run, Run Run to Bethlehem" from his Christmas Cantata "La Fiesta de la Posada." The album closes with Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song." This is a truly gorgeous holiday album and will bring you joy for years to come. Running time: 56 min., 6 sec. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

This is one of my favorite Christmas CD's. If you are looking for something along the lines of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, this is not it. However, if you want a great Christmas (solo) piano CD that will create a peacful mood, I highly recommed it. Musicians need not always "show-off" in order to make great music. This is a good example of Mr. Brubeck creating simple, but very enjoyable artistry.

One of my all time favorite Christmas albums, this is just Brubeck playing favorite carols on the piano, nothing fancy, like listening to my grandmother play them. It is wonderful.

.
Those familiar with Brubeck's light touch will be pleasantly surprised here. Brubeck consistently delivers that light touch, but avoids the schmaltz so often heard on 'pretty piano' Christmas albums. The left hand is used judiciously, the improvisations (if they are improviations) are interesting, and it's a nice mix of well-known and less heard music. We play it frequently during the holidays. (Solo piano only, by the way.)

This disc is simply amazing. Dave Brubeck has taken some standard Christmas Songs and made them into masterpieces like only he could do. The textures that are famous to all of his work abound on this disc. Upon first listen some melodies take a little work to recognize, but they are there. It is also amazing that there is only one piano only. It seems impossible that such perfection can be obtained as seen here.

The masterpiece is recognized once you can identify the melodies and sing along and listen with amazement at what Brubeck has done for this CD.

He has made a Christmas CD that puts a unique and superb interpretation on some of the most famous Christmas Carols, and he does it without the tired repetedness often found in other contemporary Christmas albums.

It is a fun CD and worth the purchase. The excellent jazz style alone would make this CD worthwhile even after Christmas. Enjoy.

Enjoyable but not as jazzy as I expected. I understand why after reading the liner notes--Brubeck wanted to do a Christmas album from music he loved as a child, with the whole family around a piano in the parlor. An old-fashioned Christmas.

I wonder if Brubeck worked on these presentations of Christmas songs over a period of days or weeks -- or if he just showed up at the studio, ad-libbed each song in one take, and went home. Not that it matters -- this CD is simply a collection of cool arrangements of nice holiday tunes by a jazz legend. Can't beat that.

I was hoping for the inclusion of Dave Brubeck Quartet's hit of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" because that is nearly impossible to find on a CD. Otherwise this CD is a nice selection of holiday favorites done by Dave on the piano.

This CD is a great collection of jazz piano solos of carols and songs for Christmas. It's easy to listen to for its vituosity or is wonderful as background music. Either way, it's now one of my favorite Christmas CDs. Some of the criticism in other comments is unwarranted. Maybe it's not what those listeners wanted from Brubeck, but you might as well criticize a horse for not being an elephant.