No comments about A Capella From Saint Thomas Church.

1 comments about Gloria - An Acoustic Guitar Christmas.

1. I own several of Peter Pupping's CDs and enjoy them all. Gloria was the first one I purchased. If anyone appreciates the classical guitar, he or she will appreciate this CD. Peter's version of Canon in D Minor just blows me away, it was recorded in a mission in California and the acoustics are incredible. If you get the chance to see him and his band perform live in Southern California it will be worthwhile.

5 comments about Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis.

1. Johnny Mathis makes one of his last recordings with the Henry Mancini Orchestra for this gem. The one the radio stations seem to want to play all the time is "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas", but as usual it's not the best song on the album. "Jingle Bells" is a creatively-arranged toe-tapper that I enjoy a lot, but for me the best song is one that I actually had to get used to! After listening to a bunch of rousing Christmas tunes, this one, the last song on the LP, slows things way down and brings you back down to earth! Of course, I'm talking about the beautiful "It's Christmas Time Again". I bought this when it WAS still available on LP, but it's great on CD, too! It sure beats the heck out of his "Merry Christmas" album.



2. I'm never tempted to listen to Johnny Mathis for the first eleven months of the year, but it almost wouldn't be Christmas without hearing him sing We Need a Little Christmas. I'm sure you've heard this version on the radio many times. Other familiar cuts on this album are It's Beginning to Look a Lot Alike Christmas and his exuberant version of It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

   There are some less familiar tunes on here that are really quite enjoyable in a quieter way. Those songs include Where Can I Find Christmas/ Christmas is for Everyone and Every Christmas Eve/Giving.

   This album is entirely secular music. Mathis has other albums that include sacred Christmas music. I have several of his Christmas albums, but I'd say if you are only going to buy one, and you want his Christmas standards, this is probably the one you want to buy.




3. This is the only CD of Johnny's I listen to 12 months out of the year!! It is addictive and just darn good!! "We Need A Little Christmas" is the best....and my favorite Christmas song. There is no Chrsitmas without Santa and most of all...Johnny Mathis and this album! Even Oprah recommended it on her Christmas show!! So, if you don't believe me....believe Oprah. Johnny Mathis' Christmas Eve album IS the Christmas mood!.....And he just looks so awefully good on the front of this CD! I wish he was under my tree!!!!



4. 
   Christmas Music is part of the American Way of Life. Year after year, American people get full of joy and the pleasure of listening to Christmas Music becomes a must.Also artists from many different styles and their labels are very conscious about it. It is rare to find an artist from the traditional pop scene who has not recorded at least one Christmas Album.
   
   Unfortunately, this Christmas tradition in American music scene is fading away among young artists though sales keep hot in the season. This proves traditional pop artists have got a market niche which maintains year after year even selling the very same album that has been recorded many decades ago.
   
   Repertoire is basically the same and this is another peculiar facet of Christmas Music. This is an indicator of the traditional `American way of buying music'.
   
   It is commonplace in the USA that many different traditional pop artists record the same hit song in a season. For instance, I remember that `The Shadow of Your Smile' has been recorded by Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Peggy Lee, and even Astrud Gilberto, besides its sensational OST by Johnny Mandel. This shows Americans like to listen to that same song or repertoire as recorded specifically by their favorite artists.
   
   It is different than the music industry and customers in Brazil, for instance. If an artist records the same songs as other one does, he is minorly categorized as a `cover artist'. This is a bad category which labels the artist a minor artist, lacking creativeness as for Brazilian market parameters.
   
   It is very interesting, anyway, to listen to the same repertoire as recorded by so many different artists from so many different times under so many different arrangement concepts. Comparison arises inevitably. Somehow, a delicious comparison. What's the best `Jingle Bells' from Johnny Mathis to Diana Krall? Who's recorded the most creative `Silent Night' - Wynton Marsalis or Nat King Cole? There is a killer `Jingle Bells' recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra under arrangement by Michel Legrand and with Jean Pierre Rampal on flute. Ooooh God!
   
   Year after year, those albums are made available by continuous reissuing or not. Some even keep in the label's catalog on and on even out the Christmas season.
   
   This is the case for this CD `Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis' recorded in 1990 by one the most important stylists of American song and arranged by an all-star team of arrangers which include Henry Mancini, Ray Ellis and Jeremy Lubock.
   
   Uncommon Xmas songs make up most of the program. Never mind. Mathis' style imparts each song a particular touch, highly inspired, emotionally crafted, technically perfect. Features a new and delicious arrangement by Ray Ellis for 'Jingle Bells'.
   
   A beautiful Christmas album by Johnny Mathis. Someone said his is the voice of Christmas. This fourth album in his Xmas series confirms it. I'm willing to agree.



5. Christmas would not be Christmas without playing a Johnny Mathis Christmas CD. He is a master at enhancing the Christmas spirit with his music. This album is exceptional. Every song is a "winner," sung as only Johnny can do. You will be singing these songs long after the CD has stopped playing. Johnny never disappoints you with his Christmas music. He loves this time of year and it is evident in the way his voice caresses every song. I highly recommend it to add to your collection.

5 comments about It's Christmas Time.

1. I bought this CD a few years ago and have listened to it every season since, sometimes even after Christmas is over. Kathie Lee has a terrific voice and it's a good song selection. I only wish she would do another Christmas album with some of the songs she's done on her show, such as Sleighride Together With You.



2. I originally bought the cassette a few years ago. And have loved it ever since. She has the type of voice you'd find in a Christmas choir. Her voice is very comforting and reminds me of my Christmas memories as a child.



3. Kathie is unknown in Britain (where I live) so my knowledge of her is limited to her music, which is absolutely gorgeous.

   I own a lot of Christmas albums, and I often wish that people would show more imagination when it comes to song selection. Yet, there is something magical about the old classics, and Kathie proves it with this outstanding album.

   Many of the songs have been recorded countless times, but Kathie brings out the best in them with her lovely, warm voice, sometimes stringing them together in well-planned medleys. Of course, Kathie would know as much as anybody about the joys of Christmas, having raised a family, and that probably helps.

   As to the songs, if I have to pick out highlights, here they are.

   It's beginning to look like Christmas. There are plenty of covers listed by Amazon, but not in my collection, so it's particularly welcome.

   White Christmas. This includes the rarely sung first verse, setting the scene in Beverley Hills. Bing Crosby's original dropped this verse, on the basis that it would leave everything to the imagination, and it would become a song the whole northern hemisphere could relate to. The popularity of the song proves that, but it's always nice to hear that first verse. After all, that's what Irving Berlin wanted.

   Most of all I wish you were here. A lovely song which I've never heard before. Other singers needn't rush to record it, though, because they won't improve on Kathie's beautiful rendition.

   The best gift. Another rarely recorded song, this one also appeared on Barbra Streisand's first Christmas album, which I also own. On this song, I prefer Kathie's version, though I am a fan of Barbra and there are some songs that Barbra's version is unbeatable. Kathie probably knows that and doesn't record such songs.

   I'll be home for Christmas begins with a snippet of Sleigh ride. Like other reviewers, I'd like to hear Kathie's full length version of this song.

   As I previously indicated, I love each and every track here. The best Christmas present Kathie can give to her legions of fans is another Christmas album like this (including Sleigh ride, of course).




4. The title says it all. Kathy Lee has such a wonderful voice. If you've never heard her sing, you are truly missing something. My favorites are "It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas" and "Silver Bells"



5. This is so sweeet.. Kathie really did a good job on this CD. All the songs are wonderful and really put u in the christmas spirit!! Wish she would make more!! Love Kathie Lee

No comments about Motown Christmas Collection.

2 comments about A Jazz Christmas.

1. Willie Pickens is one of Chicago's finest, and least recognized Jazz pianists. This CD showcases his talent; along with guest artist Nicholas Payton, Pickens revitalizes Christmas classics with new arrangements and great energy. This CD makes a great gift!



2. This impressive jazz recording can be enjoyed all year ... sophisticated arrangements breath life and joy into old standards and the performance is no less than superb. A must for any jazz collection and a great addition to a music lovers' holiday music collection.

No comments about Playlist Your Way: Motown Christmas.

4 comments about Following Yonder Star.

1. It's one thing to cover all the requisite traditional material when making a country Christmas album, but quite another to successfully alter their arrangements and make them your own. Skip Ewing reveals another of his many talents here, pulling it off with style, and stopping along the way to remind us what Christmas is really all about. I remember when I first put this in my CD player and walked away from it, then I heard that VOICE: "O come, all ye faithful..." I had to go back, sit down and just listen. I think the medley for "Following Yonder Star" is just about the coolest thing I've ever heard in my life. It has a very jazzy feel, very infectious, you'll still be hearing these songs hours after the CD has stopped. Ditto for "Drummer Boy"...but all of that has been done before. Few people dare to write NEW Christmas songs anymore in country music. Skip wrote five for this collection, several of them worthy of that "classic" title. Want the other side of Skip's voice? Check out his lullaby, it's awesome. Want something with a little more substance? This album sports "It Wasn't His Child", from "The Will To Love". It's the definitive Christmas song of our time, and has since been recorded by other artists. Skip found a new perspective for Mary in "I Trust You". He didn't abandon his country roots to make a Christmas album; he's given us "Mrs. Santa Claus", revealing the woman behind the man. It's wonderful to just sit and envision those little elves dancing 'round the tree. How many modern Christmas songs get played year in and year out these days? "Christmas Carol" has been doing it for at least 8 years now. I have an aunt whose name is Carol, and she cries every time she hears it, to this day.



2. This has to be my favorite Christmas album. I probably have 20 or more, but this is the one that gets played over and over. So original, so funny, so haunting. I love all the songs -- especially the originals. If you can only afford one Christmas album -- make this the one.



3. We looked for years to see who sang the song Christmas Carol (My name is Christmas Carol, I was born on Christmas Day...) and come to find out it is Skip Ewing! He does alright overall but our main plan was to get that one song. I noticed some CD's priced at $80-$90 on Amazon, don't pay that much! The only traditional song on this set is Silent Night, everything else is new age (I guess that is what you would call it). So, if your looking to get a song or two yes, it was well worth the couple bucks we paid, but I wouldn't have paid much more for this cassette.



4. It sure is a shame some people just don't 'make it big' as an artist. Skip's fans, myself included, are diehards- and that makes this Christmas album all the more fantastic. There are some liberties taken with a few arrangements, but the variety on the disc will only make you cherish it for years to come. I also think it's a shame that some people feel they have to charge more than triple what the album sold for new, even though it's out of print. Take my advice. Buy the mp3 version or search your pawn shops for a used copy. It's worth the search for the treasure of the man with a golden voice.

No comments about Lifetime of Romance Christmas.

3 comments about Ave Maria / Songs of Praise (Cheryl Studer).

1. All of the vulgarity, all of the saccharine, all of the artificiality, all of the mannerisms, all of the soullessness, all of the distaste, all of the distortions, all of the grotesqueries, and , well, all that jazz in Renee Fleming's new album of 'Sacred (Cabaret) Songs' are ENTIRELY missing from this magnificent release by soprano Cheryl Studer. Which means that you are better off redirecting your ears and wallets from hype to substance. You owe it to yourself and to good art. Amazing grace. Amen.



2. A beautiful record that got no press but should have. But it isn't too late to get your hot little hands on a copy. You won't regret it.



3. After seeing Ms. Studer in "Die Frau ohne Schatten" I wasn't too enthralled by her metallic sound & weird acuti but this album really finds her at her very best. It's a gentle and intimate recording of many season-evergreens and she does sing them with grace, charm and sincerity. Esp. the first Ave Maria (Schubert) is beautifully sung. Two thumbs up! A+