JSngry Posted November 21, 2009 Report Posted November 21, 2009 http://www.amazon.com/Carlas-Christmas-Car...4480&sr=8-1 (that's w/the O-Link) For real, this is a very, believe it or not, touching program. The Far-from-omnipresent "left turns" come off, not as some wacky, dry satire, but as genuine inspiration. But, in what is the most inevitable marketing ploy imaginable, Amazon is offering this one as a combo with the Dylan Christmas album. Before I heard both, I would have agreed, but now...no. Bob's thing is gentle-spirited, I do believe, as is Carla's, but I think that Bob's gotta know, enjoy, even, how bizarre the whole thing sounds, whereas Carla is more like, well, here's some Christmas music, and you know, this isn't how some of 'em usually go, but this is how I hear 'em, so check it out. Or something like that. But if you think of Carla Bley on her own as being mostly this really arch musical stylist, then you will still hear a fair amount of that here. But me, I don't feel that, not this time. Merry Christmas! Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted November 21, 2009 Report Posted November 21, 2009 Just downloading this as I type - heard a bit of it on a BBC programme earlier in the Autumn. To he honest I've not heard a lot ot 'genuine inspiration' in her music for some time now - the angular, Weill-esque beauties of her 60s/70s music seemeed to have been smoothed over and replaced by a more generic big band sound (and things like the gutbucket trombone that sounded so fresh on those earlier records just seem to have become part of the house style). To be expected - we all drop into our comfort zones as we get on. I'm not expecting the tart, Central Europeanisms of the old days - but with keyboard, bass and brass quartet I'm hoping for something heartfelt but a little quirky. Won't get to listen until the end of next week as I have a ban on Xmas music before 25th November. Quote
jostber Posted November 21, 2009 Report Posted November 21, 2009 Some listening can be done here: http://www.honestjons.com/shop.php?pid=35715&CatID=124 Quote
sidewinder Posted November 21, 2009 Report Posted November 21, 2009 Won't get to listen until the end of next week as I have a ban on Xmas music before 25th November. 24th December here ! I'll make an exception for Duke Pearson though.. Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted November 21, 2009 Report Posted November 21, 2009 Won't get to listen until the end of next week as I have a ban on Xmas music before 25th November. 24th December here ! I'll make an exception for Duke Pearson though.. I love Xmas music! I need a good month to get through some of Xmas CDs on the shelf. There's not much wonderful Xmas jazz but lots of magical classical stuff and the folky world does some very nice variations on the usual fare. Quote
jostber Posted November 21, 2009 Report Posted November 21, 2009 Document Records got some hot christmas titles too: http://www.document-records.com/fulldetail...D=DOCD-32-20-09 http://www.document-records.com/fulldetail...D=DOCD-32-20-15 Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted November 21, 2009 Report Posted November 21, 2009 Document Records got some hot christmas titles too: http://www.document-records.com/fulldetail...D=DOCD-32-20-09 http://www.document-records.com/fulldetail...D=DOCD-32-20-15 Two fantastic records - got them of e-music a few years back. Marvellous antidote to Slade and Wizzard. Quote
JSngry Posted November 21, 2009 Author Report Posted November 21, 2009 ...with keyboard, bass and brass quartet I'm hoping for something heartfelt but a little quirky. That's pretty much how I hear it, and fwiw, Swallow is not on every piece. Quote
save0904 Posted November 21, 2009 Report Posted November 21, 2009 Won't get to listen until the end of next week as I have a ban on Xmas music before 25th November. 24th December here ! I'll make an exception for Duke Pearson though.. There is a Duke Pearson Christmas recording ? Quote
felser Posted November 21, 2009 Report Posted November 21, 2009 Won't get to listen until the end of next week as I have a ban on Xmas music before 25th November. 24th December here ! I'll make an exception for Duke Pearson though.. There is a Duke Pearson Christmas recording ? 'Merry Ole Soul'. He did it for Blue Note in '69 - it's on the Mosaic Select. Trio stuff, if I remember correctly. I'm totally ritualistic about playing christmas music. I don't pull christmas music out until we're putting up the tree, usually 2-3 weeks before Christmas day. Always start with the Johnny Mathis 1958 pop-classic 'Merry Christmas' (which is what I grew up on at home in the 50's and 60's), and the Rotary Connection 1968 acid-classic 'Peace'. The first jazz one I put on is the 1981 Columbia collection 'God Rest Ye Merry Jazzmen', with Dexter Gordon, MCoy Tyner, even Arthur Blythe. I play christmas music through christmas day, but not a day later. Just one of those things, that's how it feels right to me. YMMV. Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted November 21, 2009 Report Posted November 21, 2009 I usually kick off with 'The Messiah' (even though only about 1/3 of it is Xmas related). After that it's anything from Bach to The Roches to Kenny Burrell to Britten to The Watersons to... Quote
king ubu Posted November 21, 2009 Report Posted November 21, 2009 Saw Carla Bley & The Lost Chords last night - terrific concert! As opener for the second set, Carla & Steve did a duo of one of the songs from this album - one of the highlights! Swallow was incredible! Groovier than thou, and each note perfectly nailed... amazing! Quote
Noj Posted November 21, 2009 Report Posted November 21, 2009 Guys, guys, GUYS! It ain't even Thanksgiving yet. Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted November 21, 2009 Report Posted November 21, 2009 Guys, guys, GUYS! It ain't even Thanksgiving yet. Thanksgiving? Quote
Noj Posted November 21, 2009 Report Posted November 21, 2009 American holiday involving stuffed turkey and American football. It is not OK to talk Christmas until after it's over. Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted November 21, 2009 Report Posted November 21, 2009 American holiday involving stuffed turkey and American football. It is not OK to talk Christmas until after it's over. We celebrate it here in North Notts too. Lots of excessive drinking, jollity, sex etc. A bunch of the Pilgrim Fathers came from just up the road. So we celebrate the Puritans buggering off to annoy the New World. Quote
GA Russell Posted November 23, 2009 Report Posted November 23, 2009 My Christmas season begins the day after the Grey Cup game each year, which means next Monday. I hold off listening to Christmas music until then. The Carla Bley was mentioned on the ECM thread, and I'm looking forward to listening to it here: http://www.lala.com/#album/432627041169191...hristmas_Carols Quote
GA Russell Posted December 6, 2009 Report Posted December 6, 2009 I've been listening to this every day this week. Very enjoyable. Very laid back compared to the other Carla Bleys I have heard. Twenty years from now this may prove to be ECM's best seller of all time. (Of course, the appeal of The Koln Concert has always been a mystery to me.) I can definitely see this selling each year. Quote
danasgoodstuff Posted December 6, 2009 Report Posted December 6, 2009 I get a new Xmas LP nearly every year, this is gonna be it this year.... Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted December 6, 2009 Report Posted December 6, 2009 It strikes me as a perfectly judged Xmas disc - evokes the season without being corny or sentimental. Just enough quirkiness to set it apart, without coming across as satire. And far from the sort of autopilot Xmas disc where you feel everyone is going through the motions. Lovely. Quote
king ubu Posted December 6, 2009 Report Posted December 6, 2009 still waiting for my copy to be delivered... hope it will make it before the silly commercial season is over... Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted December 6, 2009 Report Posted December 6, 2009 hope it will make it before the silly commercial season is over... I don't have an ounce of religion (or any other form of spirituality) in me and groan at the weight of commercial tack that gets directed our way from November onwards. And yet... I do like lots about this time of year. It's no accident that lots of cultures have festivals of light around this time of winter darkness. Though I don't go in for house decorations I do like to see the streets lit up; and in amidst the irritating Xmas-music-by-numbers stuff (yes Noddy, Sir Cliff and George, I mean you) there's some very beautiful stuff. As with life in general, it's pretty easy to sidestep the more tawdry commercial side of Xmas - avoid the malls (as we seem to have to call them now!) and city centres, turn off the TV and commercial radio. A certain amount seeps into a school but the kids are pretty good in their own way at subverting it. I just wish they'd move it to January 25th. Having to get through dreary January before the first signs of approaching spring is always a trial. Countries like your own have sense to have a carnival season in late-winter to look forward to. All we have is pancake day! Xmas Day on Jan 25th would leave just a couple of weeks before things started looking up. Quote
Captain Hate Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 I love Xmas music! I need a good month to get through some of Xmas CDs on the shelf. I love Christmas music also but there's no way I buy any CDs of it; that's what radio and Pandora are for. Quote
king ubu Posted December 17, 2009 Report Posted December 17, 2009 got the disc yesterday and gave it a spin late last night... very good! Quote
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