1. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town......Sean Jones
2. Little Drummer Boy......Tia Fuller
3. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!......Cyrille Aimée
4. Skating......Hot Club Of Detroit
5. Christmas Time Is Here......Warren Wolf
6. Silent Night......Christian McBride Trio
7. Christmas Star......Aaron Diehl
8. Sleigh Ride......Aaron Diehl
9. Winter Wonderland......Sachal Vasandani
10. Santa Claus, Go Straight To The Ghetto......Christian McBride Trio
11. Carol Of The Bells......Warren Wolf
12. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas......Cécile McLorin Salvant
MACK AVENUE WEBSITE
PURCHASE FROM MACK AVENUE
PURCHASE FROM AMAZON
2. Little Drummer Boy......Tia Fuller
3. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!......Cyrille Aimée
4. Skating......Hot Club Of Detroit
5. Christmas Time Is Here......Warren Wolf
6. Silent Night......Christian McBride Trio
7. Christmas Star......Aaron Diehl
8. Sleigh Ride......Aaron Diehl
9. Winter Wonderland......Sachal Vasandani
10. Santa Claus, Go Straight To The Ghetto......Christian McBride Trio
11. Carol Of The Bells......Warren Wolf
12. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas......Cécile McLorin Salvant
MACK AVENUE WEBSITE
PURCHASE FROM MACK AVENUE
PURCHASE FROM AMAZON
Mack Avenue celebrates the season with its brightest stars in a collection of familiar and maybe not-so-familiar holiday tunes. While "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," "Little Drummer Boy" and Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown classic "Christmas Time Is Here" stand tall on the holly bedecked mantle, "Santa Claus, Go Straight To The Ghetto" makes a welcome addition to the repertoire. 'Tis the season, kids!
Its weird, you know. Usually, I'm desperate to find new Christmas Jazz. And here's Mack Avenue, a label known for their Jazz that also does some Soul, and I was hoping "It's Christmas On Mack Avenue" would be a Soul release. Or at least a mix. I think, really, I was just hoping for a Freda Payne Christmas track (Freda being a recent Mack Avenue signing). But, no, this set is a Jazz collection all the way. Any weird and totally uncalled for disappointment I might have felt upon learning this fact was immediately wiped away by exactly one thing:
"Santa Claus, Go Straight To The Ghetto" by The Christian McBride Trio
Honestly, I could end this whole preview right there. One of my favorite Jazz players--a genius without doubt--playing one of my favorite non-traditional Christmas songs. And, while a few Soul artists (and a few rock artists) have tried their hand at the James Brown classic, I don't think I've ever heard a Jazz trio attempt it. Christian McBride has graced us with holiday magic before, most notably on the single "Double Decker (Deck The Halls)" that eventually found its way to Verve's "Jazz For Joy" in 1996. Here, McBride implores the Fat Man to visit some streets in West Philly the reindeer seem to miss more often than not. Then the rest of the trio (Christian Sands and Ulysses Owens, Jr.) make pitches for their neighborhoods. And, finally, Warren Wolf and Cecile McLorin Salvant drop in to say a word or two on behalf of their 'hoods. Really, I don't care what else is on this record, I'm down with it for that track alone. All it's missing is Freda Payne (I ain't letting it go. I ain't). Bassist McBride adds a reverent and lush rendition of "Silent Night" to the proceedings, as well.
"Santa Claus, Go Straight To The Ghetto" by The Christian McBride Trio
Honestly, I could end this whole preview right there. One of my favorite Jazz players--a genius without doubt--playing one of my favorite non-traditional Christmas songs. And, while a few Soul artists (and a few rock artists) have tried their hand at the James Brown classic, I don't think I've ever heard a Jazz trio attempt it. Christian McBride has graced us with holiday magic before, most notably on the single "Double Decker (Deck The Halls)" that eventually found its way to Verve's "Jazz For Joy" in 1996. Here, McBride implores the Fat Man to visit some streets in West Philly the reindeer seem to miss more often than not. Then the rest of the trio (Christian Sands and Ulysses Owens, Jr.) make pitches for their neighborhoods. And, finally, Warren Wolf and Cecile McLorin Salvant drop in to say a word or two on behalf of their 'hoods. Really, I don't care what else is on this record, I'm down with it for that track alone. All it's missing is Freda Payne (I ain't letting it go. I ain't). Bassist McBride adds a reverent and lush rendition of "Silent Night" to the proceedings, as well.
Few Jazz artists are hotter right now than Sean Jones. The trumpet player is currently riding the wave of success generated by his most recent release, "im*pro*vise". Jones has been a featured performer with Wynton Marsalis and backed Nancy Wilson on her Grammy Award winning 2006 release, "Turned To Blue", but he's also been a band leader in his own right for the last decade and has taught at Duquesne and at the Oberlin Conservatory. And he's still just 36 years old. Sean contributed two songs to the 2006 Christmas collection "Jazz Yule Love II"--"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and "O Holy Night"--and, here, delivers a Hard Bop version of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" to open the album. Then Sean lets the rest of his band take the spotlight for "Little Drummer Boy", led by the saxophone of Tia Fuller.
The Hot Club of Detroit also appeared on "Jazz Yule Love II", doing a Django'd-up version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". On "It's Christmas On Mack Avenue", the Hot Jazz band directs its gypsy juice to Vince Guaraldi's "Skating" from the immortal Peanuts soundtrack.
Sometimes described as saucy, sometimes as winsome, young Cyrille Aimée is a bit of a musical chameleon--at home with any style, any era, any genre, any piece of music at all. As much as audiences delight when she performs the standards, they absolutely swoon when she transforms a Michael Jackson tune or a John Fogerty song into a work of art. Her voice rings clear as a Christmas bell on a still winter's night. So the shame, here, is that she's only featured on one song, "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!". I'm sure she makes the most of it, but, to truly get to know Cyrille's brilliance, I strongly suggest you pick up her most recent release, "It's A Good Day".
"It's Christmas On Mack Avenue" also features the Jazz artistry of Warren Wolf, Aaron Diehl, and Sachal Vasandani. And finally, while its not Freda Payne, Mack Avenue does attempt to make amends (because its all about me, you understand) by closing the album with a soulful "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" delivered by Cécile McLorin Salvant, a big winner in this year's DownBeat Critics Poll. Cécile's rather versatile herself, sometimes reminding you of Billie Holiday, other times calling to mind Sarah Vaughn and, still other moments, channeling Betty Carter. In spite of the echoes of the greats who've come before, in the end, she's a true original.
And need I remind you...
"Santa Claus, Go Straight To The Ghetto" by The Christian McBride Trio
That's all I need to hear.
And need I remind you...
"Santa Claus, Go Straight To The Ghetto" by The Christian McBride Trio
That's all I need to hear.
RSS Feed
