No comments about Holiday Music 20 CD Collection.

2 comments about Just in Time for Christmas.

1. Tillis set out to record the sort of Christmas record that she'd play at her own home, one that's put on "when you cook for company, while you trim the tree, while you're wrapping presents, while you look through old photo albums with old friends." And in that she's succeeded, nestling her mostly secular selections amidst a trio of acoustic bass, piano and drums. The album opens and closes with drowsy late-night arrangements of "Have Yourself a Merry Lil' Christmas" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas," the latter adding superb Manhattan Transfer styled background harmonies. The album's three new songs include the imagery rich "Beautiful Night" and the Spanish guitar of "Light of the World." The tempo's turned up to a western swing canter for a medley of "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" that features Tillis and her father Mel singing in duet. Her second medley, combining "I Wonder as I Wander," "Away in a Manger," and "Silent Night" is sung spiritually and gives the album its deepest moment of Christian faith. The album's real treat is a cover of Willie Nelson's "Pretty Paper," a top-20 hit for Roy Orbison in 1963. Tillis has always shown herself to be a great singer, but with the crying steel of a vintage Nashville arrangement behind her, she turns into a heartbreakingly sentimental storyteller. The Nashville A-listers add warmth with live backing tracks that are easily imagined in an intimate club setting. It's comfort and familiarity which makes this a terrific disc to slip into your CD player while you enjoy holiday activities. [©2007 hyperbolium dot com]



2. this ain't a Christmas cookie cutter disc. nope, way etter then what main stream Nashville has let loose over the past number of years. Sure Ms. Tillis mixes a bit of jazz and blues and other music forms in this, but isn't that --- her ? Ms. Tillis' style comes thru strong, loud and beautiful. The way she blends her vocals with the musical stylings makes this a must have Christmas cd, which you will play every year and not stick in the drawer with the pop favorites of the day. If you are looking for a change in Christmas music, but no so much it turns you away, give this disc a chance. you won't be sorry, i'm not.

5 comments about Christmas Celebration of Hope.

1. If you like B.B. King you will love this CD. You'll end up playing this year round not just at Christmas.



2. This is not your typical Christmassy Christmas CD. It's definitely blue tinged, a blues Christmas, if you will. There aren't many familiar songs here, and what ones there are such as "Merry Christmas, Baby" and "I'll Be Home For Christmas" are nice and fresh arrangements. As for "Auld Lang Syne", well, how many ways are there to play that song?

   However, the highlights for me were the great bluesy interpretation of "Please Come Home For Christmas", the playful "Back Door Santa", and the very sentimental rendition of
   "Christmas In Heaven".

   This is different for B. B. King. There is a more subtle power here than in much of his work, and this will likely put you in a contemplative mood. The blue mood permeates, but isn't depressing. There is, I believe, an attitude of hope expressed here although it's being expressed mostly from a very blue mood. One must remember that this record is to help AIDS victims, and this kind of expression seems very appropriate.

   If it were not a Christmas record, I would probably rate it five stars, but because it is and yet doesn't express the Christmas spirit as openly as some records, I consider it a four star CD, but a very strong four stars.




3. I love old style blues and B.B. King did a great job on this CD!



4. This CD has been re-issued as The Christmas Collection... see the link under Our Customers' Advice. It's the same CD except for one track, it now has Merry Christmas Baby instead of What a Wonderful World. It's a fantastic Christmas CD, performed by a blues legend in his prime.



5. Not as good as it could have been. The down and dirty blues stuff is great but most of the songs are way overproduced.

1 comments about Scarlet Rivera.

1. Another amazing album by Scarlet.
   I now have ALL her albums. She takes the violin to a new high. If you love beautiful music by amazingly talented musicians, then this album is a MUST HAVE. All Scarlets albums are exceptional. Would Bob Dylan have worked with anyone other than the VERY BEST?
   Heck No !!.
   
   Buy it and ENJOY. FIVE STARS.

1 comments about A Portrait of Vaughan Williams.

1. Originally, I was confused when I encountered this set, as it incorporates four formerly individual Nimbus releases, now deleted from their catalogue. Be warned, then, if you have Nimbus releases of 'An Oxford Elegy' (and other choral music), or of RVWs Chamber Music (including the 'Phantasy Quintet' and the 'String Quartet') - these are the same recordings!

   That being said, if you don't have these titles, or you have them in another release, and you enjoy RVWs music, then you simply must add this anthology to your collection. These discs include the first recording of 'An Oxford Elegy' that I ever encountered; it is such a marvellous piece that you'll be scrambling for poetry anthologies to find bits of Matthew Arnold's 'Thyrsis' and 'The Scholar Gypsy' just to read along. 'Flos Campi' is a marvellous, almost impressionistic piece, which always brings an image of Roman legions marching slowly through Surrey to mind. The 'Phantasy Quintet' is exception, as is the 'String Quartet'. However, it is the recording of the 'Lark Ascending' (now sadly thieved by some cursèd auto manufacturer to flog their worthless vehicles) that is the high point of this, as it is of most, collections. Of course, I could be considered biased, as it is my all-time favourite piece of music. The collection is rounded out by, among others, the essential 'Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis' and an interesting selection of the Sacred and Secular songs, as well as three of RVWs Shakespeare treatments.

   Nimbus recordings are first class, and under the skilled hand of William Boughton the English String Orchestra is incomparable. Words cannot bring to these works to the life that they have on hearing, whether first or repeated. They are absolutely something that must be experienced for themselves.

No comments about Songs 4 Worship: Kids Christmas.

5 comments about Christmas Comedy Classics.

1. I found this record very funny the first time I heard it. After that it was mildly amusing. It is okay in moderation. However, My eight year old son got a hold of it and he loves it. I can't get him to stop playing it. As you can imagine, it gets incredibly annoying after a while.



2. The number one Christmas cassette in our family and circle of friends is "Christmas Comedy Classics" various artists. Gets us in the mood for Christmas. We clean, we cook, we talk, we laugh and we sing along. Very up beat. And we SHOP! All to the music from this cassette.



3. ...you can be sure those are Tiny Tim Chestnuts roasting!"

   My belief in Christmas comedy started about the same time as "me and Grampa"'s belief in Santa. Like many others, "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" was for me love at first listen. It is one of several guaranteed laugh-magnets on this CD.

   Another great track is the (more sketch-like than anything else) "Green Christmas" by Stan Freberg (see the title of my review). In it, an Ebenezer Scrooge who is overly obsessed with Christmas-commercialism tries to explain the greener side of the jolly holiday to a Bob Cratchit who is all about celebrating a Savior's birthday. This is the only track on the CD which represents the true meaning (or at least what ought to be and once was the true meaning) of why we have this holiday. And even this track will draw plenty of laughs.

   Clearly, not every song on here is intended to draw laughs. Some of the songs are simply classic children's songs, such as the Chipmunks' "The Christmas Song" (not to be confused with Mel Torme's song of the same title). At least one song is more or less a mix between classic children's Christmas and comedy, such as "Nuttin' For Christmas".

   One of my personal favorites is Yogi Yorgessons's "I Yust Go Nuts At Christmas". I especially enjoyed his classic line,

   On Christmas, I hug and I kiss my wife's mother.
   The rest of the year, we don't speak to each other.

   Most Christmas CDs are intended to leave the listener with a nostalgic feeling of Christmastime. The only problem is that the concept of "Christmastime nostalgia" can be interpreted in over a dozen different ways. But, make no mistake, this CD will also provide that/those nostalgic feeling(s).

   All in all, this CD will make a very unique and entertaining addition to anyone's Christmas collection.




4. Every year when my mother would bring out the Christmas decorations, she would also bring out all of our Christmas albums. Out of the ten CD's we had, we always ended up listening to this same cassette over and over again. I'm hoping to upgrade it to CD soon so that it will last forever since I absoulutly LOVE this album. It's good for a few laughs or just to feel good. But mainly I enjoy it because of the history I have with it. So in short...I reccomend it STRONGLY!



5. This is a decent collection of Christmas novelty records. It contains my personal favorite, Stan Freberg's "Green Chri$tma$". Other highlights include Freberg's "Nuttin' For Christmas", Yogi Yorgenson's "I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas", two songs by Mel Blanc and the rarely heard nowadays "The Happy Reindeer". But I do have some criticisms to make. Instead of the hit version of "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" by Elmo & Patsy, they use a poor cover version by the Irish Rovers. And instead of the hit version of "Monster's Holiday" by Bobby 'Boris' Pickett, they substitute Lon Chaney, Jr.'s inferior cover version (which does admittedly have a cool ending, with Chaney turning into the Wolf Man). And how exactly is "Auld Lang Syne" by Guy Lombardo a "comedy classic"? But this is still a pretty good, inexpensive CD.

1 comments about Salsa Creole: Afro-Cuban Salsa Music.

1. I want to listen to the music before I buy it. You guys don't have any audio clips.

No comments about Christmas Collection.

4 comments about Christmas Collection: 20th Century Masters.

1. This is a straight reissue of an earlier James Christmas collection called "Funky Christmas," except lower priced. The lower price makes it a real bargain, because this is a very memorable collection of Christmas music.

   These tunes are culled from three holiday albums JB released in '66, '68, and '70. There aren't many traditional favorites, but many of the originals are great. My favorite is "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto," which is aimed at the less fortunate children who often go without presents at the holidays. James was a the height of his social impact when he wrote and recorded this, and it transcends any race or class boundaries. It's about the spirit of giving, and James's key line is "Don't leave nothin' for me/I've had my chance, you see."

   This is a funky, soulful collection, perfect if you're looking for something that captures the spirit of Christmas but does so in rousing manner. Another highlight, "Sweet Little Baby Boy," which I believe was a hit single- JB's vocal is searing and passionate.




2. this is my favorite James Brown cd, this cd make me wonder why christmas isn't everyday.



3. I didn't even know James Brown did Christmas music til a friend turned me on to this collection. I love to buy 3-4 new Christmas CDs every year and I particularly like that this collection is mostly original stuff--not tired covers of the same old songs. There are 2-3 other James Brown CDs, but this one has it ALL and it's ALL worth listening to. Christmas is a time we need to enlarge our view and think of others. James Brown really tells what it's like to be poor and forgotten at Christmas.



4. Mostly original JB tracks that by certainly do not fall under the cheesy Christmas music category. Very enjoyable indeed.