5 comments about Christmas with You.

1. If you close your eyes, you can still see his hands racing over the keyboard. We loved this album this Christmas and enjoyed having it in the car and traveling around town with Anthony. It is so sad to know that he is gone, but his music will live forever.



2. this man was such a talent.and his music lives on.this is an excellent cd for christmas...



3. Mr. Burger's last Christmas CD is wonderful! We were blessed that he was able to complete this CD before moving on to glory. To God be the glory for what Mr. Burger accomplished with his music.



4. We love this CD very much and it is one of the best Christmas CDs we have. We have always loved Anthony Berger's music and this one lifts your spirit.



5. Bought this for my mother. She was very happy with it and the delivery time was excellent.

5 comments about Trombones Under the Tree.

1. This is a wonderful album of holiday favorites. All selections are outstanding performances, making this a welcome addition to any CD collection. The music will be especially appreciated by fans of the trombone, but the outstanding musical quality makes it pleasant listening for all.



2. I don't know if its personal prejudice or just my taste, but I don't find the sound of "east coast" symphonic players as nice to listen to as those whose sounds more clearly are "Chicago Symphony" influenced (at least as I hear it anyway). Consequently, I find myself viewing everything with "Chicago Symphony" coloured glasses.

   I though the CD was "nice". Plenty of competent playing, and solid ensemble work. But,I just didn't hear any real inspiration in the playing of the ensemble. Everything sounded "right", but not magical. For a new trombonist just learning the instrument, this CD will help the learning process; lots of nice sounds, solid musicianship and good ensemble work. However, for a more experienced player, this CD is a disappointment. If you are on a tight budget, or trying to find something that will inspire you, you likely ought to consider putting your money somewhere else.

   For anyone reading this review, I am sorry for the negative commentary, but this is just how this CD hit me. As an amateur trombonist of many years, I realize it is easy to throw rocks at an easy target, especially as I knowlingly am unable to aspire to the heights these musicains have rightly attained in their chosen profession. However, I alwasy try to "call em' as I see em'".




3. How anyone could rate this CD under 5-Stars is a myestery to me!?! The playing and arrangements are AWESOME! Do yourself a favor, buy this CD as well as "The Hollywood Trombones - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." The Balboa Bachelors weren't disappointed and you won't be either!



4. I absolutely love this CD. The level of musicianship is phenomenal, as well as the arrangements of the pieces. It's so hard to find good arrangements of Christmas music - most are very bland. You HAVE to have this CD - especially if you play trombone.



5. I collect all types of Christmas music. Years ago, I came across "A Festival of Carols in Brass" by the Philadelphia Brass Ensemble (on LP!), and I played it every Christmas. Since then, I've listened to other Christmas brass recordings, and my other favorites are "Christmas Time Is Here" by the Gramercy Brass, and this recording.
   
   Almost every track is tastefully arranged, and the all-trombone sound adds some nice variety to my Christmas music collection.

No comments about We Wish You a Metal Christmas & a Headbanging New.

1 comments about Classical Christmas.

1. Laserlight has the rights to so much recorded music - excellent, good, indifferent, bad - & of such varying sound quality, that it's difficult to rate the label's bargain compilations. Most are afflicted with "excerpt-itis," the "greatest hits" disease. However, some compiler with an interesting ear for the offbeat & a sense of humor put this fine five-CD Christmas box together. He or she did so by leaning on some less familiar music & by relying largely on good performances from ye olde East Germany ensembles & conductors, (as do Koch-Schwann & Berlin Classics labels, at higher prices).

   The #1 disk is a solid performance of The Nutcracker Suite (also issued as a single disk by Laserlight) by Peter Wohlert conducting the Berlin Symphony (not to be confused with the Berlin Philharmonic). With that over-cooked chestnut out of the way, this compilation gets interesting.

   We get some venerable excerpts of Bach cantatas, oratorios, motets & Lutheran hymns, performed by Fidicinia Capella, New Leipzig Bach Collegium Musicum, & the German Bach Soloists, all respectable ensembles. Edita Gruberova even joins in "Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen." Plus an earful of grand organ preludes.

   Handel is represented by a happy section of "Water Music" & a piece for brass instruments from his oratorio, "Judas Maccabaeus." What, no "Halleluah Chorus?" Believe me, you don't need it! But it's here all the same.

   Mozart checks in with the lovely, too brief, "Ave verum Corpus," motet for chorus, strings, & organ, K. 618. We also get snappy, dutiful baroque contributions from Vivaldi, Corelli & Purcell.

   The remainder of the set is filled out with music from: Pavel Josef Vejvanovsky; Francesco Onofrio Manfredini; Johann Ludwig Krebs; George Friedrich Kauffmann; John the Elder Alcock; Michel Corrette; Michael Praetorius; Johann David Heinichen; Johann Heinrich Schmelzer; & Giuseppe Torelli. The inclusion of these marvelous obscurities pushes this bargain compilation over the top.

   I give it four stars because the performances & sound quality vary considerably. But the compensation comes from hours of joyously felt Nativity music, a good deal of it unfamiliar yet beautiful all the same. Load all five into the CD changer, hit the random button, relax & enjoy your spiced eggnog with family & friends.

   The five CDs are titled: 1. The Nutcracker 2. Classical Christmas 3. Christmas Music for Trumpet & Organ 4. Johann Sebastian Bach - Christmas Music 5. Baroque Christmas Music. They can be purchased individually.

2 comments about Midwinter Night's Dream.

1. Nothing could be better, or help more with seasonal blues, than Boys of the Lough's upbeat Celtic Christmas. Better than British pudding after Irish potato soup! I could go to the mall if they played this! You don't have to be a Celtoholic, or know any, to finish your Christmas shopping fr them all with just this.



2. The Boys of the Lough have been around for almost thirty years now, and this album must be the best thing they've done (at least as far as I've heard from them). This is simply one of the most beautiful of Christmas or seasonal albums. At times it can be extremely solemn and moving. Their arrangement of the Irish language carol "Don Oiche ud i mBeithil" is inspired and inspiring. Another highlight is the fantastic tune medley of "The Mummer's Jig" and the reel "Christmas Eve," with Cathal McConnell and Christy O'Leary in fine form on flute and uillean pipes, respectively. McConnell also does a fine job on the English language version of "The Christ Child's Lullaby" (although these ears prefer to hear it in the Scots Gaelic). Aly Bain and Dave Richardson also acquit themselves admirably on this album, with Richardson contributing more of his fine tunes. The closing track, "The Dying Year," with Bain's fiddle accompanied by a tasty, piano backup, is one of the most moving pieces on the album. I often cannot wait for the Christmas season to come around so I play the album year-round (at least the tracks not so obviously associated with Christmas).

No comments about The Ultimate Jazz Christmas.

5 comments about Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence: Soundtrack From The Original Motion Picture.

1. close your eyes and enjoy this work of art



2. I watched the movie for the first time when I was 21.

   I listened to the entire soundtrack for the first time when I was 18.

   I have known the melody of the title theme....since I was in elementary school.

   I always whistled this melody without knowing what the music was called or who it was by.

   Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence was the soundtrack of my life.

   PS.
   I have recently noticed the track #2 on disc #2 of the compilation Clicks & Cuts 3 (on Mille Plateaux), by Antonelli Electr., starts with a melody that is very remniscent of one of the short tracks on Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence. It made me really excited...




3. This CD disappeared for some time, I remember hunting for years to find it again. This re-release gives fans of the movie and the two artists another chance to listen to a fine Sakamoto piece. Sakamoto was in Yellow Magic orchestra, Sylvian in Japan and then on his own. The collaboration with Sylvian is one of many: Bamboo Music/Bamboo Houses and Sylvian's first 3 solo albums -- all amazing when Sakamoto adds his unique keyboard touches. "Forbidden Colors" stands away from the rest of the album, I think, a wonderful song, one of my favorites.

   Buy the movie, it's still available, enjoy Bowie against Sakamoto and Tom Conti's fine performance. Then, you'll need this album.




4. This is the soundtrack to the 1983 feature film "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence". Sakamoto, who was in the now-legendary New Wave/synth group Yellow Magic Orchestra, composed and performed the entire evocative score. Addtionally, Sakamoto starred as a Japanese POW camp commandant, along with British POW's Tom Conti and David Bowie (as an Australian commando). The movie, while a disappointment at the box office, is quite an experience; a strange drama set in a Japanese-run POW camp in the Dutch East Indies in World War II, but worth watching. The ending is emotional; you may shed a few tears at the end!

   As good as the film is, the soundtrack is stunning, especially the title track; it's haunting, mesmorizing, and powerful. (The only clunker is the David Sylvian vocal on the "reprise" at the end, which was not on the film's soundtrack.)

   At the very least, get this brilliant soundtrack!




5. My college roommate bought this when it was released. I have always loved the Forbidden Colours version with David Sylvian's vocals. A real gem of a song.

3 comments about Merry Axemas: A Guitar Christmas.

1. A great performance of traditional Christmas songs played by some of the worlds greatest guitar players. A must have CD to play alone with traditional Christmas CD's during the Holiday season!



2. This is a great album for anyone who has a love for guitar oriented music and a must have for guitar players.



3. The music arrived in time for Christmas and I would say to all who aprreciate good guitar and Christmas music in one to buy it!

1 comments about Christmas Collection: 20th Century Masters.

1. It's George Strait. The dicionary definition of the perfect voice. That's all I can say. That's all I need to say...

No comments about Irish Christmas.