Customer Reviews

Making Spirits Bright: A Smooth Jazz Christmas

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

 

 

I was unaware of this disc until I read about it in the December issue of Ebony magazine. It is so soothing and relaxing and a great way to experience the talents of artists such as: Lee Rittenour, Al Jarreau, Wil Downing and Joe Sample. Great music to bake and trim the tree by.

I agree with the editorial that a few of the tracks of this release indeed should be subtitled "A Twist of Christmas," because they are straight out of the Lee Ritenour and his "A Twist of" Series mold. In fact, the cuts "Silent Night," with Al Jarreau, and "I'll Be Home for Christmas" featuring Will Downing (who manages to sound bored out of his mind here) are just a couple of tunes that sound like outtakes from the aforementioned sessions.

Joyce Cooling's rendition of "The Christmas Song" is quite unique however, as are some of the other cuts including Richard Elliot's "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen".

Since this is a "Smooth Jazz" CD, the cuts are short and to the point (read: radio friendly?) although I don't think you'll be hearing the very jazzy Joe Sample version of "I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", David Benoit's "The First Noel" anytime soon or, for that matter, Dave Grusin's out of place "Suite de Nuestra Navidad". Now that I think about it, this disc at times tries too hard to have a Latin flavor.

Overall, this disc leaves you saying "it certainly is pleasant enough", because you realize that you have heard better Jazz Christmas CDs.

Happy Holidays to all....

We have always enjoyed the GRP Christmas recordings and were equally pleased with this work. The contemporary artists featured are able to combined the essence of the music style with the traditional quality of the holiday season.

For jazz fans, this is a must-have! Get it; you'll love listening to it every Christmas. Just plain wonderful music.

I have all three GRP Christmas Collections and like them very much. This GRP Christmas anthology is rather lame due to the crappy sounding programmed percussion. I have other CDs by six of the artists on this CD, but none of it sounds as bad as this. Jochem van der Saag is credited with "programming" and "sound design". I hope I never buy any music with his "talents" again. If you do not care about the sound of the backing "instruments", then I suppose it could be quite enjoyable, but I will most likely never play if again.

Enjoyed this CD because it's a bit different than the standard Christmas music. Easy listening.

This is only my 2nd jazz Christmas CD as I'm slowly developing a taste for jazz music in general. I love almost all Christmas music and this CD is very good. It is a nice mix of artists and there various styles of music on this compilation cd which exceded my expectations. I'm looking forward to listening to this more when the holidays come around. Enjoy!