A warm rendition of Have Yourself
a Merry Little Christmas features the musians from Metropolitan's
souvenir CD Memories of New York: Thru Jazz &
Photography with Vincent Herring on soprano sax,
Gary Fisher on piano, George Mitchell on bass and Carl Allen on
drums.
A shimmering version of The Christmas
Waltz is performed by the famed trio of pianist Billy
Childs, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Carl Allen.
The Christmas Song, a "chestnut"
by anyone's standards, is sung beautifully here by Metropolian's
first vocal artist Debra Holly and accompanied by the Linda Presgrave
Trio. I'll Never Forget You, Debra's
CD on Metropolian, features her voice in a variety of settings.
Linda Presgrave puts her own unique spin on
the holiday favorite Jingle Bells in a lively
Brazilian samba rendition. Bass player Wei-Sheng Lin and drummer
Seiji Ochiai, her most capable side kicks, are also featured on
The Journey.
Level Playing Field
pianist Falkner Evans puts his own arranging stamp on Hark
the Heral Angels Sing with Wei-Sheng Lin and Seiji Ochiai
completing the the ensemble.
A blues twist to the Christmas classic Silent
Night features Stan Chovnick stretching out with the
Linda Presgrave Quartet once again as he did previously on The
Journey.
On Debra Holly's CD I'll Never Forget
You, she received praise from the reviewers for
her work on "the Addams Family" theme song.
Frosty the Snowman gets a similar whimsical not from
her on this seasonal favorite.
Vincent Herring displays his beautiful soprano
saxophone tone once again on O Christmas Tree.
The other musicians from The Sterling Place All-Stars
(Ronnie Mathews on piano, Richie Goodes on bass and Carl Allen
on drums) serve up some extra special playing themselves.
The original tune That Special Time
of Year, by pianist Linda Presgrave, serves as the title
track on this CD. The trio, with Harie S on bass and Seiji Ochiai
on drums, recorded this rendition for Linda's CD The
Journey in 2005. Harvie was also one of the bass
players featured on Linda's CD In Your Eyes.
Tenor saxophonist extraordinaire Billy Harper
plays his heart out on this unique arrangement of It Came
Upon a Midnight Clear with his quartet of outstanding
musicians including Francesca Tanksley on piano, Clarence Seay
on bass and Newman Taylor Baker on drums. His CD Soul
of an Angel continues to be one of Metropolitan's
best selling CDs.
From Stan Chovnick, President of
Metropolitan Records:
"I would like to thank all of the great musicians who participated
on this project and who helped to make this CD possible. Secondly,
I would like to dedicate this CD to my two children Rebecca and
Susannah who I love very much. And finally, I would like to wish
everyone happiness, peace on earth and a very Merry Christmas."
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