Customer Reviews

Peace Round: A Christmas Celebration

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You're asking yourself, "More Christmas songs?" Well, Christmas songs yes, but these have the distinctive Yellowjackets stamp on them. If you are familiar with the group then you know exactly what I'm talking about. I recently read another review of this CD which stated that not only are these great Christmas songs, they are great "anytime" songs. First-rate playing from a group that has been consistently up there in great jazz. Highly recommended.

If you're a fan of Kenny G, chances are you won't like this album. But if you are a fan of straight ahead jazz and renditions of Christmas songs that DON'T sound like a wheezing accordion than this is the CD for you.

The Yellowjackets never disappoint. This Christmas jazz CD is excellent from beginning to end.. no filler. It is a little on the mellow side but is still top notch. I have many Christmas jazz CDs, and this one is in the top three.

I ran across this CD on Amazon, and being a Yellowjackets fan of about 15 years, I had to listen to the samples. Then I promptly ordered it. I highly recommend Peace Round to those who like comtemporary jazz that is grounded in straight-ahead jazz, and would like to have a fresh, peaceful, jazz experience listening to Christmas music. This is NOT to say it is low-key or just good background music, but I find it to be worthy of a close listen. The fresh arrangements of these traditional tunes are inspirational and the rhythms can range from the funky "Little Drummer Boy" to the dreamy floating of "Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem". There is real jazz throughout, with plenty of great soloing by members of Yellowjackets. To mention a few of the other songs: "The First Noel" has the only vocal - a touching rendition by a female vocalist. "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" - quite reminiscent of a tune with John Coltrane on soprano sax(My Favorite Things?). "In A Silent Night" - Sound familiar? This is my favorite. It really moves me somehow. This classic gets the treatment with Miles Davis' "In A Silent Way". Enjoy.

The Yellowjackets are Bob Mintzer (tenor and soprano saxophones), Russell Ferrante (piano, synths), Jimmy Haslip (bass, synth) and Marcus Baylor (drums). They are joined for one track (The first Noel) by singer Jean Baylor, wife of Marcus. The pictures confuse me - most show Santa in a desert landscape, while the group picture shows Santa surrounded by four people dressed in black with nobody in a yellow jacket. Still, it's the music that counts and the performances here are top-notch.

The titles are all familiar except the title track while the overall sound is much as you would expect from a jazz quartet - however, some of the tunes are arranged slightly differently so there are a few surprises in store. Slient night appears twice, first in a fairly conventional arrangement (track 2) then with a noticeably different arrangement (the closing track) titled In a silent night.

This would be a great Christmas album for jazz fans to play as background music and it might even persuade a few non-jazz fans to explore the music a little further.