I love Christmas music. Even when I worked retail, and the Christmas music started playing before Halloween, I loved Christmas music. Growing up, we always knew that it was really Christmas time because Dad pulled out the Christmas albums (not pictures — records. Yes, I'm that old). Perry Como and Elvis, year in and year out. Now I have my own musical tastes, and my own Christmas music. Jazz, contemporary, blues, even a copy of Rock Power Praise's Christmas heavy metal compilation. And somewhere on my hard drive I have Joan Jett singing "The Little Drummer Boy."
This Windham Hill Christmas compilation is much more traditional. But traditional doesn't mean boring — in fact, just the opposite. These songs are arranged so that you can play them no matter what the occasion — a Christmas party with friends, a tree trimming party, or just a quick game of "find the mistletoe" with someone special. And next year, you won't be replacing it with something more trendy.
The CD does contain a fair amount of religious music, so those who are easily offended by actual references to Christ may not be pleased. "Angels We Have Heard on High" is one of my all-time favorite Christmas hymns, and I was glad that they chose it to start the album off. There are plenty of non-sectarian songs on here as well, though — "O Tannanbaum," "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" are a few representatives that I enjoyed particularly.
Windham Hill fans will find some old favorites on this CD, of course. Liz Story does "O Thou Joyful Day/O Little Town of Bethlehem," Philip Aaberg contributes "Wassail Song," and George Winston and Will Ackerman also make contributions. There are some new faces as well, and I'm sure we'll be hearing more from folks like Jim Brickman and Fred Simon. In fact, Winston's "Cherry Tree Carol" was a wonderful addition, and a song that I hadn't heard very much before.
The only thing that disappointed me, especially after enjoying Winston's fretwork on the final song, is that "Silent Night" wasn't performed on solo acoustic guitar. Barbara Higbie does an outstanding job on the song, and I enjoyed it quite a bit, but I absolutely love to hear "Silent Night" played on the guitar, as it was originally written and performed.
On the whole, listening to this CD was a perfectly enjoyable experience, and a great way to start off my holiday season. If you don't have it, then you need it.
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