christmas
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Holiday Music Roundup: Remixes
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I’ve been a fan of jazz remixes since I first heard the original Verve//Remixed. I guess it was a fad. I don’t see many anymore. I thought it was a good way to introduce younger generations to some classic jazz. However, some remixers completely destroyed any jazz element of some of the songs I heard….
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Spyro Gyra – A Night Before Christmas
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“We’ve always had a yearning to do a record that was kind of a straightahead record – or at least something closer to a straightahead record than what we normally do,” says Spyro Gyra’s Jay Beckenstein. “But it’s always been very difficult to make that work in the context of what we do on most…
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Bela Fleck & the Flecktones Holiday Recording
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Christmas music from Santa Bela Fleck and the Flecktones is coming on September 30. Jingle All the Way is the first collection of holiday music from the long-standing band. It features everything from banjo-harmonic arrangements of “Christmas Time Is Here” and “River,” to a Tuvan-inspired, worldbeat rendition of “What Child Is This / Dyngyldai.” “We…
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Boney James – Christmas Present
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Boney James is now two for two for excellent holiday recordings. Almost a decade ago, I reviewed the saxman’s first seasonal CD, Boney’s Funky Christmas, and was impressed. I love the Christmas season and have a larger-than-average number of related discs. The fact that this is one of them that I put on first each…
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Review: Dianne Reeves – Christmas Time Is Here
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I’ve always thought jazz is the best genre for Christmas music. The intimacy of the jazz trio especially can make for some of the most enjoyable music of the holiday season. Multi-Grammy winning vocalist Dianne Reeves proves this on her first seasonal recording Christmas Time Is Here. With the exception of a small number of…