Customer Reviews

Joy

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"THERE'S STILL MY JOY" is a remarkable song and a remarkable peformance. "A CRADLE IN BETHELEM" is stunning in its beauty and simplicity - the best version of this song since Nat Cole's.

"WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR," "HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS" and "PLEASE COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS" are also standouts.

This deserves to be in your Christmas collection, right next to those classic Christmas albums by Rosemary Clooney, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand and Bing Crosby.

The only thing missing from this collection is her stunning version of SILENT NIGHT. Originals THERE'S STILL MY JOY & CHRISTMAS ANGEL are also stunning and noteworthy. Her jazz-tinged version of I'VE GOT MY LOVE TO KEEP ME WARM, will, in fact, keep you warm! The overall feel is warm and intermit, and if that doesn't make you feel like a kid again, YOU'LL have to wish upon a star!

I bought this cd along with Roberta Flack's and Peabo Bryson's when Angel records, a subsid of Capital, released holiday cd's from these seasoned professionals at the same time in 1997 and each artist was between recording contracts so these albums is a one-off for each of them. Each cd is different, Peabo's leans more toward traditional, Roberta's r&b, and Melissa's a quiet jazz piece featuring small ensemble. Roberta and Peabo recorded a duet "As Long As There's Christmas" for a Disney project and the song ended up on both their cd's. Melissa wrote the beautiful "There's Still My Joy" and her version has a Celtic feel, Roberta covered it for her Christmas cd and her reading leans toward r&b. I had the pleasure of attending a holiday concert featuring both ladies touring to support their cd's and "There's Still My Joy" was one of the songs featured and Melissa stated the song takes on a life of it's own at each venue, not knowing in advance what the genre will be. The version I heard at that concert was a pop version, I much prefer Melissa's.
This album as a whole is beautiful vocal jazz, "When You Wish Upon A Star" is a surprise, stripped of it's sugary gloss and laid bare; a startling beauty. This entire album is an acoustic delight and Melissa's voice is complimented by her accompaniment and doesn't go into full voice which creates a laid back listening experience.

Melissa's trademark has been big ballads. This Holiday collection is alot softer which shines with warmth. Each song flows nicely with the last. Melissa made this a unique holiday CD by adding the children's classic When You Wish Upon A Star and the standard I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm (which is my favorite track!). There are also 2 originals. The stunning There's Still My Joy and the tasty jazz-tinged Christmas Angel (Reminds me Holly Cole's Christmas EP). Other highlights include Christmas Time Is Here from Charlie Brown Christmas, White Christmas, The Christmas Song and The Eagles made popular Please Come Home For Christmas. There is also a very rare video of the later song as well.

It has been 10 years since the original release of Joy in 1997 on Angel Records. Capitol picked it up shortly thereafter and now Koch does a great job at this re-issue. Everything is exactly as the original. The sound is even better! I am surprised that they did not include last years, My Christmas Song For You, which would have been a great opening song for this set. The other 3 songs missing from here are her awesome version of Silent Night (recorded in 1990). There is a slightly different version of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas and Amy Grant's, Breath Of Heaven from The Colors Of Christmas released in 1998.

This is a classic holiday CD in the tradition of Johnny Mathis, Nat King Cole and Doris Day or Tony Bennett.

Melissa Manchester's music is unknown in Britain, but I am grateful to an American reviewer for drawing my attention to this excellent Christmas album., which I classify as jazz-pop. Most tracks feature four or five instrumentalists, though one (When you wish upon a star) features just three, while another (There's still my joy) features seven.

Melissa co-wrote two original songs for the album (There's still my joy, Christmas angel) and also included the rarely-recorded Cradle in Bethlehem. Nat King Cole recorded this song and may well have been the first singer to record this song. Vince Gill also recorded this song for his second Christmas album Breath of heaven.

Charles Brown wrote and first recorded Please come home for Christmas, which received a massive popularity boost when the Eagles covered it, released it as a single and took it into the top 10 of the American pop charts. Actually, the first version of the song that I heard was John Schneider's country version on the multi-artist compilation Tennessee Christmas, but plenty of other artists have covered the song too although I`m always pleased to find it on a Christmas album as it doesn`t come round too frequently..

Vince Guaraldi first wrote and recorded Christmas time is here, which first appeared on A Charlie Brown Christmas. As far as I know, there is no connection between this album and Charles Brown who wrote Please come home for Christmas, but if there is one I expect somebody will post a comment explaining it. Many artists have since recorded this song, the other versions that I'm familiar with include those by Shawn Colvin, Sarah McLachlan and Diana Krall. Again, this was a great choice by Melissa as far as I'm concerned.

Two songs here (I've got my love to keep me warm, When you wish upon a star) have become part of the Christmas songbook even though I don't think they were originally intended to be so. Still, like some other songs of which this could be said, they fit in well and I'm very happy with Melissa's versions.

The remaining songs comprise a selection of old classics that everybody knows and loves - Have yourself a merry little Christmas, I'll be home for Christmas, White Christmas and The Christmas song (chestnuts roasting on an open fire). Even though I have plenty of other versions of these songs, I never get tired of hearing them. If I did, I'd have stopped buying Christmas music long ago.

This album should appeal to fans of jazz-pop or easy listening music. It's not a party album but it is full of quality.

Like a Christmas star, Melissa brightens the holidays with a jazzy, heartfelt Christmas album that is an instant classic. Her voice is as clear as a bell. "There's Still My Joy" is an amazing song. But every song on this album is given a beautiful rendition and an impeccable arrangement. A must have to listen to while trimming the tree.

Melissa's trademark has been big ballads. This Holiday collection is alot softer which shines with warmth. Each song flows nicely with the last. Melissa made this a unique holiday CD by adding the children's classic When You Wish Upon A Star and the standard I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm (which is my favorite track!). There are also 2 originals. The stunning There's Still My Joy and the tasty jazz-tinged Christmas Angel (Reminds me Holly Cole's Christmas EP). There are 3 songs missing from here. Her awesome version of Silent Night, a slightly different version of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas and Amy Grant's, Breath Of Heaven. The later 2 are from Colors Of Christmas.She could have easily included her new solo version of A Mother's Prayer. Nevertheless, this is a Classic holiday CD in the tradition of Johnny Mathis, Nat King Cole and Doris Day.

This is a great holiday CD and a must for Melissa Manchester fans like myself. My favorite on this is "There's Still My Joy", a beautifully written and inspiring song. There is a nice selection of music here!

For fans who want to hear more of Manchester around the holidays, try the "Colors of Christmas" CD. It has 2 tracks by Manchester...who is joined by Roberta Flack and others.

"There's still my joy" is one of the most beautiful Christmas songs (not a carol, a song)- just for this song and "Cradle in Bethlehem", the CD is worth the price

I purchased cd when first released many years ago,and i like the music and singer but not the overall feel of the cd. Manchester is certainly one of my all time favorite artist, and i do play the cd at least once every year. I believe the arrangements are what has always been my issue w the cd. I really like uptempo holiday music and for the most part i find the selection done in jazz and maybe some blues. Melissa does bring me joy maybe just not all of the songs here. I have tickets to see her in late feb 2012 in Las Vegas and i know for certain, she will bring me much joy and i am looking very forward to this.