5 comments about Christmas with the Vienna Boys Choir.

1. This recording is a combination of two: "Domingo and the Vienna Boys Choir" and "Hermann Prey and the Vienna Boys Choir," now out of print. I own all three recordings but play this one most. I love the variety of tenor and bass/baratone voices, combined with the boys' voices. All the singers are in top form and the songs are not all the usual trite ones, though there are some familiar titles. Is it possible to have a Vienna Boys Choir Christmas album without "Silent Night?" All in all, this is a wonderful Chrsitmas experience and highly recommended.



2. Nice, didn't know guys could sing that well. Buy this CD, you won't be disappointed.



3. I have purchased and listened to about 15 CD's performed by the Vienna Boys' Choir. I enjoy them all, but this one stands out as my favorite. It is not a collection of traditional Christmas music as you might expect, but one section of Latin mass by Mozart (sung in Latin obviously) and the other is most of a Cantada by Bach (in German). Whoever decided to call this a Christmas CD was apparantly out of his mind, but the music on the CD is wonderful from beginning to end. I especially love the short duet of the two boys harmonizing during the mass, and the longer duet near the end of the CD of the male bass singer and the boy treble. I wish the Vienna Boys' Choir would put out a CD of just duet songs. I give this CD my highest recommedation.



4. Is there any more wonderful music to listen to for the holidays? I think not. Domingo is a soaring foil to the Vienna Boys Choir. If there could be angels on earth, I would imagine this is how they sound. "Der Hirten Lied" the "Shepherd's Song" is the most exquisite for me, but all of this collection is wonderful.
   
   Listen and bring the spirit of the season into your heart.



5. Not your HO HO Ho merrymerry kind of Christmas album. Beautifully performed and recorded; but not what most Americans associate with the season.

2 comments about Revenge of the Monster Hits.

1. The follow up to Monster Hits, Revenge of the Monster hits does not have the same complete appeal. Several tunes are just not enjoyable, Attack of the 50 foot woman, Weird Science and Zombie Stomp. The others are great and Elvira's own Haunted House has the potential of being a great Halloween single if Rhino would market it as such. My advice for volume 3 which the first album states is coming, remix haunted house remove the corny talking ending, and have Elvira cover "I put a Spell on You" Until then, Unpleasant dreams.



2. Overall, the two elvi in this production are not bad to look at but Elvira is rather sparse with this disc. The selections are no more than ordinary but just owning something performed by this creature of the night is satisfying.

5 comments about Christmas Party: Holiday Piano Spiked with Swing.

1. Oh wow I'm in love with Dave McKenna's romantic and lovely style. He is a true jazz piano legend. I love this, this is my favorite Christmas cd, it's so good I listen to it year round. Everyone I've played thsi for loves it and I gave six of them out as Christmas gifts last yaer! This is timeless jazz and swing, all great Christmas tunes. THE BEST!!!



2. I have been a Dave McKenna fan for several years. During this time, Dave has spoiled me with his work. I have come to expect a lot from Dave and he always delivers. On this particular cd, Dave has overwhelmed me with exellence. I find that his unique arrangements are mindbogglingly good. I wonder what happened? He must be getting better with every year. Maybe this is his best cd of all time, I listen to this year round!

   For this cd, Dave used a good repertoire. I know he picked tunes that everyone who has class will enjoy. Like I said this is the best cd of his career, and is a highlight of his long lustrous career. Surely Dave, you've really outdone yourself with these timeless jazz and swing arrangements.

   Recommednation: If you are looking for beautiful swinging, jazzy, arrangemtns for christmas time or anytime this cd is for you, if you have any class at all you'll buy this, just listen to the samples and you'll hear why. [...]




3. Everyone who knows me, knows I don't touch eggnog(unluss it's really spiked with something strong), I go straight for the martinis at any Christmas party and this is the perfect cd fir sipping martinis under the mistletoe, and smokin cigars by a warm fire place(with some warm brandy too), this is a great kicker to any holiday coktail party, it's good jazz,b y jazz piano legend McKenna, you'll love this cd so much, you won't want to get drunk, because you really want to lesten to this one, it's more than lounge, it's actually pretty deep, yet light & fun too. So listen, drunk, smoke strip and be merry.



4. Forget the title. This is no mere seasonal novelty or "jazzed up" treatment of familiar tunes. Dave McKenna is the essence and personification of "swing," and no pianist, past or present, has mastered the left hand-right hand synchronization of jazz piano playing more effectively than McKenna. Tatum had the stride style down, Garner could keep the 4/4 going with massive left-hand chords. But McKenna lays down a walking-bass line second to none while managing to layer independent, lean and thoughtful melodic lines on top of that sure foundation. The music he creates offers as much to a follower of the modern piano scene as to a fan of the old stride-piano school.

   This album is as ambitious and impressive as Dave's other recordings, which is to say that, as a Christmas program by a jazz instrumentalist, it is simply second to none. "Jingle Bells" might as well be "I Got Rhythm" or "Lady Be Good" under Dave's hands; "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and "Midnight Clear" communicate with the exhuberance and harmonic/melodic clarity of "All the Things You Are"; and the McKenna original, "Snowbound," manages to be fresh yet as communicative as a familiar standard.

   Not long ago the NY Times carried an article about McKenna, indicating he was no longer playing due to bad health and that his medical expenses had left him virtually penniless. Yet he expressed surprise that some listeners would still remember him let alone find him newsworthy. That portrait squares with my memory of catching him at the Copley Hotel in Boston in the mid-80's. There were 10-15 other people in the room, none paying much attention to the music. At the break, I asked Dave how it felt to play night after night when no one was listening. "What do you mean?" he replied. "Apparently you were listening."




5. I won't dispute conventional wisdom: The all-time greatest Christmas album is Vince Guaraldi's "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Having said that, a pair of solo piano albums are tied for the red ribbon: Cyrus Chestnut's "Blessed Quietness," and this gem from Dave McKenna.
   
   Dave McKenna is the pianist's pianist. He's a legend among jazz pianists, a musician who never saw fame equal to his talent. Every musician knows his name. "Christmas Party" was recorded in February 1997, when McKenna was 66. Sadly, it was among his last recordings. In 2002, Nat Hentoff wrote a moving article about McKenna where he revealed that McKenna could no longer play piano. He suffers from carpal tunnel syndrome, due to severe diabetes.
   
   McKenna lives a private life nowadays; but thanks to Concord, we have a few of his albums to enjoy. This is among the best. It's replete with classic carols, and even includes three original tunes by McKenna. It's an intimate hour with one of jazz's finest pianists, and the perfect setting for a snowy December night.
   
   When I think of Dave McKenna, I'm reminded of Jaki Byard. Both are relatively unknown to most audiences. But if you ask musicians, they'll tell you these men were blessed with talent and inspiration. Each man's influence on his peers, and the way fellow musicians approach their instruments, is incalculable.
   
   If you're looking for a wonderful Christmas disc, buy this one. If you want to discover a remarkable jazz musician, try Dave McKenna. I'd recommend "An Intimate Evening with Dave McKenna" (1999) and his Maybeck duo with guitarist Gray Sargent from 1992. But start here. This is a beautiful album, an absolute gem -- and I guarantee you'll find yourself playing it every Christmas.
   
   NOTE: This album was originally issued in 1997 under the title, "Christmas Ivory." Concord's first printing contained an error that caused the disc to skip a few seconds into Track 1. If you own "Christmas Ivory," you'll note the music is the same. And if you plan to buy a used copy, I recommend you avoid the original title. I own a corrected copy, but it's possible you'll encounter a first-edition.

No comments about Drew's Famous Fright Flicks.

1 comments about Ultimate Jewish Music Collection.

1. This is a reissue of material recorded and available in the 1960s. It features the London Festival Orchestra under the leadership of the wonderful Stanley Black, and includes several additional tracks not on the original album. Also liner notes are provided by the comedian Alan King.
   
   The music is symphonic in style and just beautiful. It is hard to imagine anyone who loves Jewish music not being thrilled by this CD. And it would be a wonderful introduction for anyone who wants to introduce themselves to the same. The song Rumania, Rumania is especially good and the version of Yussel, Yussel (Joseph, Joseph) is as good as I have ever heard. While mostly orchestral in form, there are some limited vocal portions as well. I highly recommend this CD and dare you to stand still while listening.

5 comments about Merry Christmas (Joyeux Noël).

1. A wonderful soundtrack to an awesome movie.
   
   I can't listen to it enough, Thank you Philippe Rombi



2. Anyone know if this spectacular film will ever be released on DVD?



3. Philippe Rombi is a composer new to this listener and being so impressed with the film 'Joyeux Noël' encouraged purchasing the Soundtrack. Not a mistake at all. For once the entire music excerpts of significance are intact, even the artists who were guests, providing professional opera singers for the voices of the two cinematic actor/singers.
   
   Rombi opens the film about WW I with very eloquent, quiet, lovely solo piano music, and very often he is so sensitive to the message of the film that just when the action looks as though the music should be of the Carmina Burana ilk, Rombi settles for orchestral Adagios. He has elected to use the carols Stille Nacht and Adeste Fidelis for the actor Sprink to sing and uses the voice of the gifted tenor Rolando Villazon to intone the music. To establish the relationship between the two opera singers, Sprink and Anna (Villazon and Natalie Dessay), he has them perform a duet version of Bach's 'Bist du bei mer' - the words of which take on deep meaning as the film progresses. When he has a moment for Anna to sing a solo, he writes his own version of Ave Maria for Anna/Natalie Dessay to sing. It is very lovely.
   
   There are several 'tunes' written for the score - 'Fraternizers' Hymn' ('I'm Dreaming Of Home'), the theme for Anna and Nikolaus - which very well could endure long after the score and film disappear, they are that fine.
   
   In all the score is very strong and well played, sung, and conducted. This is a soundtrack that bears attention for lovers of beautiful music. Grady Harp, November 06



4. wonderful sound track, beautiful, melancholy, nostalgic, sad but sublime music to synchronize this unnecessary human tragedy.
   i remember that i've seen an older movie exactly like this, but it's american soldiers and german soldiers doing the x'mas truce, drinking and singing the x'mas carols together on x'mas eve. why and how it became possible? because both countries still have the same religion, the same belief and the same god.
   anyway, the premise of that and this movie is to deliver a message to you: enemy is what your president, your chancellor, your goverment, your generals giving to you. they point across the border, telling you that a whole foreign country out there and the all the people in that specific nation are your enemy. when these people decide to declare the war on that country, then the people in that country suddenly become your enemy. before that, you never knew that you've got an enemy, you'd never thought the people in that country would be your enemy.
   funny thing is once the war is over, tourism would take over, and then you'd travel to that once you thought very unfriendly country and shake the hands of that country's people. if you go there in the holiday season, you'd say 'merry x'mas' to each other with smiles on your face.
   but some of the countries that would never become your friendly nations and your friendly foreign people if you invade their country and force them to reform a new government and replace all the guys your government doesn't like. and they'd never say 'merry x'mas' to you, because they have different culture, different belief, different god, different book of god, different holidays. but regretfully, when you invade their country, you've totally destroy all the things they used to have. when all the good and bad are forcefully changed in the name of liberation by a foreign nation, there's no way they'd appreciate your holidays with respect.
   this is what we have to learn from this movie.
   you know why this truce could be achieved between german soldiers, french soldiers or american g.i.s?
   funny thing is that under same god, same belief, same bible, same....how could it possible that they'd still become enemies to each other? two boxers with the same belief into the boxing bouts, they both cross themselves before each bout and wish god would help him to beat out of his opponent. why they fight each other? because the words 'in god we trust' are printed on paper money. the green $ sign pushes them to fight each other. maybe the cause of a war between nations with the same religion is the green $ sign too?
   eh, by the way, if i sit in my living room, watching this movie, how could it possible that i would become enemy even to my neighbors, if i don't have a yapping dog barking day and night, bothering their sleep?
   by the same token, how could it possible that i would have a whole region's countries' people who hate me to the guts and screaming 'death to america! death to americans!'?? how could i become an enemy to a country about ten thousand miles away if i couldn't even make an enemy to my immediate neighbors?
   now, you tell me, i just want you to tell me. i don't want my government and its imbecile officials to tell me.



5. I thought the movie was good, but I was disapointed with the rating. I think the sexual scene was downplayed in the PG13 rating, i.e. "a little bit of sexual nudity"..I would not want any children watching that scene, it was obvious sexual intercourse.I think it should have had an R rating instead.
   I was very disappointed with the rating

5 comments about This Christmas (I'd Rather Have Love).

1. This cd is comprised of traditional Christmas songs and contemporary ones. Teddy the musical genius. I'm in the spirit of Christmas already!!



2. Teddy Pendergrass is, without a doubt, a national treasure, and "This Christmas" instantly joins the ranks of classic holiday collections to be enjoyed for years to come. I only wish he had included more spiritual (rather than secular) holiday songs, because he is--and always has been--such an impassioned vocalist when performing songs that touch on religion and spirituality. Perhaps his next album will be the collection of gospel standards that longtime fans (like me) have hoped for.



3. This music really got me and kept me in the Christmas spirit and I am still listening to it. He is such a genius and a gift to the world. The traditional Christmas songs sound better here than anywhere else I have heard them. I wanted to buy this CD for everyone I know.



4. This contempory christmas cd from Teddy may surprise you when you listen.The quality is very high and captures the christmas spirit in a very warm and honest way.Add this cd to your holliday collection you will not be disappointed.



5. This NOT your typical bland Christmas Album....This even works during Non Christmas Season (Yes, It's just that good). How it got lost in the shuffle is another story, because this should have graced the Charts in a major way. Do yourself a favor and hunt this down QUICK! Before Christmas gets here, You know what?, you could even be an 'Office Hero' and buy a copy for the office...Who knows you might even get a bigger Christmas Bonus :)

4 comments about Christmas Songs.

1. Great CD by the Eddie Higgins trio. Don't wait 'til Christmas time to listen to superb arrangements of some of your favorite holiday tunes. I bought the CD after listening to Sleigh Ride on a local jazz station. Wonderful! Makes a wonderful gift!



2. If you like jazz trios, or even if you don't like jazz trios, this is a really nice Christmas CD! While I change out CDs frequently, this CD stays in my CD changer the entire month of December. Great for dinner, talking with friends, decorating the tree, sitting by the fireplace, etc. To show you how much I enjoy it, I just purchased "Christmas Songs II" by the same trio, which is an import only, Korean Exclusive. I cannot recommend this CD enough.



3. Christmas is over, but I just have to review this remarkable CD before I forget. I love jazz, and despite a plethora of Christmas jazz CD's on the market, most are not good. I bought this CD after reading a review on Amazon (thanks everyone!) and was absolutely thrilled with it. My husband and I are both musicians and were blown away, especially by "Sleigh Ride" - excellent piano playing. This CD is warm, enjoyable, lively, smooth...it's a delight. I cannot recommend it highly enough. This album ranks up there with Oscar Peterson's Christmas, and Vince Guaraldi's Christmas; high praise indeed.



4. I heard snippets of this CD on Yahoo radio and fell in love with the mellow jazzy style of the Christmas favorites. Not melodramatic "smooth" jazz but simple, innovative versions that are beautiful and light. A great mix to put on during a Christmas party as people mingle with cocktails and twinkle lights. I love it!

5 comments about For Christmas.

1. There were ten songs on the original LP...at least the one that I have. But it's only right that the CD version should allow for more because the CD holds more music than an LP...though they could have filled it up a lot more than with one extra song! Little Drummer Boy, Carol of the Bells, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Let It Snow-Let It Snow-Let It Snow, Rudolph, and the CD extra Hallelujah Chorus all come from the Mercury album Sounds of Christmas. Jingle Bell Rock, Do You Hear What I Hear, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, and The Lord's Prayer all come from the Columbia album Give Me Your Love For Christmas. This CD is a good mix of the two albums, but there are some wonderful songs on the originals that would have been worth including.



2. This is a wonderful cd for the holidays. Mr. Mathis version of "Do You HEar What I Hear" is amamzing. I also think his "Little Drummer Boy", "Lord's Prayer" and the rare "Calypso Noel" are top rate. Buy this cd or give as a gift. It will be enjoyed year to year. A. J. McCall - Lowville, NY



3. This is an enjoyable CD, but I caution anybody who already has some Johnny Mathis Christmas CDs or plans to buy more than one to be careful. This one contains a combination of songs from other releases. It is not an original album. So check the song list against other CDs you own or plan to buy to avoid getting duplication.

   I enjoy listening to this CD, but it's not his best Christmas CD. If you are planning to buy just one Johnny Mathis CD, buy Christmas Eve With Johnny Mathis. That is the one that contains the Johnny Mathis holiday hits you hear most often on your radio.

   The songs on this CD are pleasant enough. I like his slowed down version of Let It Snow, Let It Snow. It's a nice change from the perkier versions, which I also like. However, I must admit, if something happened to my copy of this CD, I wouldn't bother to replace it.




4. My old copy got lost, and this CD is very hard to find. So I bought two copies! It is my kids (4 and 7) favorite, as it has Hallelujah and Little Drummer Boy. Last year they made my wife and I keep playing it in the car well into August. Nothing like driving around in 80 degree weather singing about Santa Claus. This is a complilation record and is his best one.



5. As noted above, this 1989 release is actually a compilation of tracks culled from two previously-released Mathis Christmas albums.
   
   "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen", "Carol of the Bells", "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", and the "Hallelujah Chorus" are all taken from Johnny's 1963 album THE SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS, which was subsequently re-issued in 1972 as CHRISTMAS WITH JOHNNY MATHIS and is still available on CD under that title.
   
   The balance of the tracks are taken from 1969's GIVE ME YOUR LOVE FOR CHRISTMAS. This album, too, is available on CD is its entirety.
   
   There are no tracks here from Johnny's first (and best) Christmas album, 1958's MERRY CHRISTMAS, or from 1986's CHRISTMAS EVE WITH JOHNNY MATHIS. While everything on FOR CHRISTMAS is worth hearing, Mathis fans would be better off getting the original albums (or, if a more well-rounded compilation CD is desired, checking out THE CHRISTMAS MUSIC OF JOHNNY MATHIS: A PERSONAL COLLECTION).

1 comments about A Mediterranean Christmas.

1. As fans of the Boston Camerata for decades, we giddily add a CD every couple of years to our collection. And while everything from the BC masterfully declares the glories of Western religious, literary, music, and linguistic heritage, this CD has the power to stop you in your tracks. This is not ambiance, sitting by the fire with a cup of cocoa, Christmas music. This is proclamatory music.
   
   One of the most remarkable features of this CD is the use of the shofar on the first track. The shofar, which is a ram's horn, was an ancient instrument used by the Israelites most often to call the people to worship. But it was also the instrument used to call God's people to battle, and to declare the proclamations of the Lord. It is one of the most haunting, pleasantly disturbing sounds we have ever heard. It even made our 2-year old stop her play and say in awed tones, "wow... horn!"
   
   Too many people have been turned off to history because it was taught to them in a ridiculous name-date-place rationalistic fashion, instead of as history was meant to be told -- in stories. This CD is a musical story. It's not just a story about the music of the time, but it's the story of the people told in their very own music.
   
   It's easy to forget that this is our heritage too, even though it resembles next to nothing in our current culture. The Boston Camerata has taken on a momentous task in reminding us who we are through songs that still resonate in our souls centuries later.