1 comments about Gloria!.

1. I would recommend the Boston Gay Men's Chorus CD's to anyone. The professionalism of this group can't be beat, and the holiday concert CD is wonderfully played and sung...perfect for the holidays!

No comments about Essential Winter's Solstice.

2 comments about Christmas '64.

1. Since Verve is now opening the vaults for more Jimmy Smith recordings from the '60's, this Christmas '64 album was long down on my wishlist for reissues. Since nearly all great jazz musicians have issued Xmas albums, there was no exception for the more popularized Jimmy Smith on Verve in the 60's. Good or bad? If you have the Christmas Cookin' album you can skip this CD since they're identical with just different cover (Christmas Cookin' CD has the original LP cover). Smith's great Blue Note trio members are the backbone on this album - Kenny Burrell/Quentin Warren on guitar and Grady Tate on drums and if add a big band with great arrangements - you have a best-seller album. For serious Smith collectors, this is an important release given the producer's effort making Smith a 60's "pop star" using big band and great B-3 organ interpretation format on dearly beloved Xmas tunes. The "Jingles Bells" are still lingering after Smiths boppish interpretation and Bing Crosby's trademark melody "White Christmas" swings like Mr. Berlin preferred it on Broadway. This is cool stuff, not a great JImmy Smith album, but watch out your mother-in-law's reaction on the upcoming Christmas dinner - it might be a memorable one! Great sounding and recorded B-3, so turned up the volume when you run around the Xmas tree.



2. This is the only Christmas album I will ever play. I grew up on this album, because my dad always played his vinyl copy at Christmans time, which he actually purchased in 1964. I'm glad to have a copy on CD now.

No comments about Swing into Christmas.

No comments about Tempus Festorum.

5 comments about Gaither Gospel Series - Still The Greatest Story Ever Told.

1. This album is one of the best albums I've ever heard, period. Not just for Christmas, or Southern Gospel, or Gaither Vocal Band. The production is superb. The singing is fantastic. It's just one of the best!!! Only one word can describe this album...beautiful!!

   The gems of this album are "Mary, Did You Know?" (penned by Mark Lowry), which showcases the power of these mens' voices, and "Hand Of Sweet Release," a moving song that tells how a little baby born in a manger was the one who would save us all.

   If you don't own this album, BUY IT!! You will DEFINITELY be pleased!!




2. THIS IS A GOOD ALBUM, HOWEVER I THINK, BACK HOME IN INDIANA, TESTIFY, SOUTHERN CLASSICS II, LOVING GOD LOVING EACH OTHER WERE BETTER ALBUMS...THE HARMONY ON THIS ALBUM IS NOT AS GOOD...SOME OF THE VOICES ARE TOO PROMINENT, ESPECIALLY THE TENOR...SONG SELECTION IS VERY GOOD...I LIKED THE ALBUM OVERALL...IT IS JUST THAT SOME OF THE VOICES NEEDS TO BLEND BETTER...



3. I have always loved the GVB music and this album was not a disappointment. There are so many great songs and the Gaither Vocal Band belts them out as they would a regular album. This is an album that can easily be listened to all year around. I highly recommend this album!



4. This is the first CD with David Phelps, and unfortunately they don't feature him much. This is a VERY good Christmas CD, one that you will play in the summer. 'Mary did you know' is awesome, and so are 'Hand of sweet release' and 'Go tell everyone.'



5. Not a big fan of most of these songs, group sounds good--I love close harmony--but bought for just the one song.

No comments about Handel's Messiah.

No comments about Holiday Sing Along with Mitch (including song sheet lyrics).

2 comments about Bach: Epiphany Mass /Gabrieli Consort & Players * McCreesh.

1. Paul McCreesh is a master of reconstruction: he takes discrete, sometimes well-familiar, pieces and places them in the context of church liturgy. This endeavor requires formidable research, both into the performing practices of the period from which the music came, and into the devotional practices that coexisted with the music. McCreesh' reconstructions of Venetian services, masses by Praetorius and Morales, and now this Epiphany mass have been praised by critics of all hues, including those who are generally suspicious of the period performance scholarship. This uniform acceptance speaks volumes for the merits of McCreesh' approach to musical reconstructions. As a backbone for the Epiphany service on these two discs, McCreesh uses the vocal music from Missa Brevis in F major and cantatas "Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen" and "Schmucke dich, o liebe Seele," as well as the organ music from Toccata in B flat minor and preludes from several cantatas. These pieces are interpolated with congregational singing of hymns, recitations of prayers, and even a sermon chanted in German at the end of the first disc! If you don't want to feel like you're attending a church service every time you pick up this set, you can skip the devotional interpolations. You will still get more than enough for your money. Both discs are filled to the brink: CD1 is 80 min., CD2 is 79:59 min.! This release features a celebrated organist James O'Donnell and a number of world-class singers such as Charles Daniels, Ann Monoyos and Peter Harvey. As the editorial review mentions, the choral forces are very lean and elegant. The music really breathes under their light touch. Especially thrilling are the two sections sung one-voice-per-part: Sanctus in D major from BWV 238 and the opening chorus from BWV 180. gkolomietz@yahoo.com



2. I read the review of this 2 CD work in the New York Times, and thought my husband might appreciate it. He thought he died and went to heaven when he heard it. Even though the litergy of the mass is in German, he faithfully followed the chanting on the CD with the German words in the pamphlet provided (my husband does not speak German). Except for the Bible readings in German, all the music is in Latin as in Bach's time. Even I, with no Catholic tradition, truly appreciate listening to the lovely hymns; and I do not find the German Bible readings disconcerting because they are done in chanting with hymns interspersed. A true masterpiece!

No comments about Christmas Is for Children.