Customer Reviews

Jazz for Joy

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was browsing through Music World on Brigade Road, trying to find something "different" this Christmas. I spotted the Jazz for Joy album and thought, what a boring album cover!

I hardly recognised any of the singers/musicians, but thought I'd take a chance and buy the album.

And man, was I impressed!

It's got all the usual Christmas oldies - but they're all jazzed up. If you want "electric jazz" don't buy this album. But if the sound of a piano, guitar, trumpet, bass and drums makes your day, this is the album to buy this Christmas.

Put this CD on, put your feet up and sip something stiff. You'll have a Merry Christmas.

For true jazz lovers, this is a CD that must not be missed. I have an extensive collection of Christmas Jazz but this has become my absolute favorite. It stayed in my car CD changer from Thanksgiving until Dec 24, when it was brought in to provide background for our Christmas Eve party. Most jazz holiday compilations feature many different artists and result in a mish-mash of dissimilar styles on the same disc. On Jazz for Joy, the rhythm section mostly remains the same, with different vocalists and instrumentalists such as Shirley Horn, Roy Hargrove, Betty Carter and Mark Whitfield featured on various cuts. This result is truly a joy for the jazz fan. I've just ordered several more copies to give as gifts.

Seems everybody cranks out a Christmas album at some time or another but this is great jazz for any time of the year. Christian McBride really shines on "Deck the Halls" and Betty Carter's unique style on "Let It Snow" is classic. I've owned it since its release it's still a favorite.

One of the best jazz Christmas albums of recent years. Any jazz fan who wants some Christmas music will find this CD a worthwhile purchase.

this is a terrific CD.

a big sounding band that will swing you thru all those mince pies with great style.

Abbey Lincoln is absolutely marvellous on #This Christmas#. the arrangement is nice and she hops and skips throu the tune with uplifting joy.

Betty Carter is also worth hearing in front of a bigger band

and then Shirley Horn gives us a version of Merry Xmas that avoids similarities with Nat King Cole.

what a shame that all these great ladies of jazz have moved on.

Only one turkey in all this feast : the completely corny guitar work sounding like George Benson in ultra vapid mode. A real shame as it is out of place alongside the modern arrangements.

More please Verve....

The other reviews tell the whole story. Want to know if you should buy this CD? Click on Christian McBride's "Double Decker" and have a listen. I love that thing more every year. It's EXACTLY what I want to listen to in the frenzy of the Christmas season.

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 `Jazz for Joy' performed by so different artists in the Jazz scene, vocal or instrumental, in a delicious diversified program containing some gems.

Common Christmas songs here include `Let It Snow', `Rudolph The Red-Noised Raindeer', 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas', and others, all wrapped in original jazzy arrangements that make the difference. The world Christmas anthem by Mel Tormé `The Christmas Song' shows up here too, in a beautiful rendition by Ms. Shirley Horn. Would you prefer it with Nat Cole or with Mathis or with Ms. Horn? I prefer all.

There is Shirley Horn and Betty Carter and Abbey Lincoln! Oooh God! Horn also offers a sensitive and original 'Winter Wonderland' (no way to compare it to the standard Johnny Mathis' rendition). Betty Carter and Abbey Lincoln show up with uncommon repertoire.

This is a great Christmas album. You'll specially love it if you are a Jazz fan.