![]() ![]() to the modern "Such a Small King" (1983) and "Wanted" (1993). Alone at the piano, he sings in Latin, French, German and English as he traces the development of carols and songs from the earliest "Gloria In Excelsis Deo" to "Good King Wenceslas" of 928 A.D. Michael Ballam takes you on a fascinating holiday journey as he talks and sings his way through a millennium of Christmas music. MICHAEL BALLAM "Celebrating Christmas: 1,000 Years of Symbols and Songs" (Phoenix Productions). There's "Sevivon," "Chanakah, Oh Chanakah" and "Chanakah Blessing." And a Calypso take on "Here We Come a Wassailing." - S.I. And I'm pretty happy how it turned out."īailey's is just one of the many new holiday albums released this year:ĪRTHUR & FRIENDS "Arthur's Perfect Christmas" (Rounder Kids).Īrthur, D.W., Binky and the gang are all here singing their own humorous takes on "Jingle Bells," "The First Noel," "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "What Child Is This?" and "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella." Most of the songs were taken from the PBS special "Arthur's Perfect Christmas." But it's not just a Christmas album. "I also did an informal poll to see which songs my friends liked. Nicholas," which she sings as a duet with her father. While producers Sam Cardon, John Hancock, James Marsden and Thomas Hopkins all had a hand in choosing and arranging songs on the album, Bailey turned to his daughter BreElle for one of her favorites, "Jolly Old St. ![]() I didn't want to just come in and sing them straight, but I also didn't want to come in and chop them up." "Instead, I wanted to do these songs and make them a part of me. And I didn't want to go and ruin it for them. When choosing the traditional tunes ('Drummer Boy,' 'Silent Night,' 'O Holy Night' and 'White Christmas') I had to consider the audience. "I wanted to personalize some of those songs. The idea was to take some traditional songs and give them a "Thurl Bailey twist," he said. I decided to stick close to rhythm & blues." So I had a lot of musical styles to choose from when making the Christmas album. And later on, I found myself into Journey and Queen. "But I also was into the Whispers, the Stylistics, the O'Jays and Gladys Knight & the Pips. So I had these two 45 singles of 'ABC' and 'One Bad Apple.' "And there was this rivalry going on with the Osmonds, and I loved them, too. When he was growing up in Washington, D.C., Bailey listened to a lot of different music. "I had discussed it with some friends and producers of mine, and I wanted to make a Christmas album that was close to my (musical) roots." "The idea for this holiday album came about last year," Bailey told the Deseret News. Thurl Bailey, the former Utah Jazz forward who has found his niche in music, worked for a year on his latest album, "The Gift of Christmas." ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |