1. Winter Wonderland
2. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
3. White Christmas
4. Interlude: By My Christmas Tree
5. Carol Of The Bells
6. O Come All Ye Faithful
7. The Christmas Song
8. I’ll Be Home For Christmas
9. Gloria in Excelsis
10. Christmas Time Is Here
11. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
12. Some Children See Him
13. The Little Christmas Tree
14. Untitled bonus
Al Jarreau - Vocals, background vocals
Larry Williams - Keyboards, flute, clarinet,
tenor sax, bells, sleigh bells (tracks 1,
3, 5-7, 10, 11, 13)
Chris Walker - Bass, vocals, background vocals
(tracks 1, 3, 5-7, 9)
Mark Simmons - Drums (tracks 1, 3, 5-7, 9)
Michael O'Neill - Electric guitar, nylon-string
guitar (tracks 1, 6, 9)
Lenny Castro - Percussion (tracks 1-3, 9,
13)
Joe Turano - Tenor sax, piano, sleigh bells,
background vocals (tracks 1, 4, 5, 10-12)
Larry Turtle - The Stick (track 2)
Dan Higgins - Flutes, pennywhistle, clarinet
(tracks 2, 11)
Phil Ayling - Oboe (track 3)
Dave Carpenter - Bass (tracks 5, 11, 13)
Larry Goldings - Organ (tracks 7, 9)
Ross Bolton, - Guitar (track 7)
Jerry Hey - Flugelhorn (track 7)
Take 6 (Claude McKnight, Mark Kibble, David
Thomas, Joey Kibble, Cedric Dent, Alvin Chea
- Vocals (track 8)
Alyncia Mack, Montina Cooper - Background
vocals (track 9)
David Witham - Fender Rhodes (track 10)
Michael Thompson - Electric guitar, acoustic
guitar (track 10)
Bob Wilson - Drums (track 11)
Ramon Stagnaro - Nylon-string guitar (track
13)
The Christmas CDs continue
to arrive with predictable frequency. Perhaps
we can excuse Al Jarreau for adding yet another
one to the pile, as he hasn't made a Christmas
album before. His previous recordings have
brought him seven Grammy awards - for pop,
jazz and R & B. This indicates the way
that Jarreau straddles various genres. Being
a jazz fan, I prefer him in jazz mode - my
favourite album of his being Look to the
Rainbow, recorded live in 1977 and well
worth seeking out.
That album is a showcase
for his vocal dexterity and some of the same
characteristics are audible on this Christmas
offering. Al Jarreau still has that inimitable
catch in his voice and he makes notes swirl
and quaver. But Al doesn't try to jazz up
the songs: he is content simply to add his
individual inflections to them. As with other
Christmas albums, the material militates against
very much improvisation, because many of the
songs are so well-known and somehow fixed
in people's minds.
However, Jarreau manages
to choose some unhackneyed songs among the
familiar carols. And he injects some jazziness
into Winter Wonderland which, being
a secular song, is more amenable to change.
He even funks up Gloria in Excelsis,
which is not the ancient hymn but a composition
by Jarreau in collaboration with Larry Williams.
Yet on most tracks the richly-orchestrated
backings and celestial choirs prevent much
freedom. So, like the Nils Lundgren album
I have recently reviewed, this CD appears
under "Jazz" because it is by a jazz performer,
rather than because it contains a lot of jazz.
Nevertheless it is a pleasing seasonal contribution
and may add to your Christmas cheer.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Rhino
8122-79914-6
