Customer Reviews

Christmas Mornings

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If you want something different to perk up your Christmas then this is the CD for you. I've had the luck to see Brent Barrett perform on Broadway in Chicago and as chance would have it Grand Hotel in London. His rich tenor is truly one beautiful instrument. As his bio states "hailing from Kansas", this singer brings a truly American sprit to these wonderful songs. What a great spectrum. From classics like White Christmas to newly penned numbers, this is one great collection. If you like Broadway and you like Christmas then this is for you. Enjoy

This is my new favorite Christmas album. This whole month of December I've just wanted to listen to it over and over again. Brent Barrett is and always has been an amazing talent and skilled singer. The title song of this album "Christmas Mornings" is beautiful and you will want to listen to it over and over again. That track on its own is worth the full price of the CD. He's put together a great album of contrasting styles and tempos (all Christmas of Course). You'll hear a range of the season's hits ranging from our beloved Santa songs and some of the more religious pieces, as well as some new things.

Starting with "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" he adds a nice hint of jazz flavor to the piece, that will make you want to get up and dance to it. He then goes into slower tempo pieces such as the classic White Christmas and O Holy Night. O Holy Night, being one of my own personal favorites, is sung better on this album than I have ever heard before. On this track in particular and on "It's the Most Wonderful Time" you can hear Brent's powerful heroine voice that his Broadway fans know so very well. His beautiful operatic quality sound flourishes in O Holy Night. Brent has one of the most beautiful, natural, even, vibrato that I have ever heard.

His rendition of "Christmas Time is Here" which many will know from "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is also a standout piece. Brent is amazing whether he's singing with his full power voice, or whether he's singing soft ballads such as this one. I could go on for many paragraphs regarding each song. Every track has its own beautiful qualities. You can even hear in Barrett's voice that he cares a great deal about the material he is singing, which is something many holiday albums lack in my opinion.

In my opinion no Christmas album collection is complete without this one, I know I will be listening to it for many years to come, likely even when it's not Christmas time.

Brent's new album is such a joy to listen too. His renditions of such Christmas classics as "Holy Night" are fresh and heartfelt. The original song, "Christmas Mornings," is rich, poignant and uplifting. Highly recommend!

As a UK-based musical theatre obsessive and music reviewer, I have in recent years considered Brent Barrett as one of the most talented leading men on Broadway and in London if you count his across-the-Atlantic visits for KISS ME KATE and GRAND HOTEL. His welcome and frequent involvement with shows on The Great White Way and points west has been backed up by his participation in various cast albums whilst Brent's solo album tributes to the songs of Alan Jay Lerner and Kander & Ebb also proved to be high points that underlined his talented.

I can now rave about this seasonal album on which Brent downsizes his vocals ever so slightly to imbue some classic Christmas favourites with sincerity and warm emotion. SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN, WINTER WONDERLAND and THE CHRISTMAS SONG are always expected inclusions in a collection such as this and it's good to hear the verse to WHITE CHRISTMAS - thus filling any gaps in the song's poignant pull. The sparing but sparkling orchestrations are also helpful in setting the mood and I was particularly impressed with the Bach-inspired setting for O HOLY NIGHT. It's always good to discover new seasonal songs to refresh the mix - in this case the album's fitting title number and Brent's own co-composed (with Barry Kleinbort/Bernard Blanks) A STAR TO GUIDE YOU, with the latter's collaboration extending on disc to vocally share SILENT NIGHT.

This is definitely one album to look out for in order to complete the joy of the turkey and tinsel celebration.

Brent Barrett has one of those voices that are always a pleasure to listen to. On this new CD, that voice is combined with truly inspired arrangements and orchestrations that make this a true holiday classic. I'll never be able to listen to O Holy Night again without hearing it this way, courtesy of Christopher Denny, Larry Moore, and Johan Sebastian Bach. The songs are a mixture of standards and original material. They both work here. Barrett has the kind of voice that shows why standards become standards, and the new material is interesting and programmed nicely. This is a must-have for Barrett fans and those who want to hear good music, performed well.

This is a delight from start to finish: the arrangements/orchestrations are sparkling and fresh and unexpected, the vocals are magnificent, and the two "new" songs are wonderful additions to the seasonal repertoire. Highly recommended!