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by Rick Culver
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 BRAZILIAN CHRISTMAS |
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BRAZILIAN CHRISTMAS
Produced, orchestrated, and conducted
by Jeff Steinberg
Arranged by Jeff Steinberg and Lori Mechem
guest artist, pianist Lori Mechem
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As in the previous CD, the most excellent presence of saxophonist Denis Solee and George Tidwell on trumpet, are featured in these arrangements. Denis displays the same laid back relaxed style of playing on soprano in this CD as he did on baritone sax in “Jazz Blends.” Steinberg has expanded the instrumentation in Brazilian Christmas with the addition of strings. Lori has added even more to this CD than just
her competence as a pianist, with her original Christmas songs, “Christmas Day With You” and “Seems Like Christmas In July.”
In “Jazz Blends,” I suggested that it wasn’t cutting edge music. In “Brazilian Christmas,” it is, if you think in terms of standard Christmas
songs prepared, not as an ordinary reproduction, but newly refreshed. I’ve heard Christmas CD’s from some of the best jazz players in the world and have been amazed at how little effort they make to take an average Christmas song from its standard form and dress it in a new musical suit, to demonstrate that a melody has the potential to become something that, although eminently recognizable, can still be different; and, as the head of the project, the arranger is showing the listener at least one way out of the ordinary.
“Christmas Waltz” is outstanding. It so captures the arranging quality of Antonio Carlos Jobim that one might wonder what musical surprise he might have offered the world if he’d made his own CD of Christmas arrangements. In fact, if someone does know of such an album, let me know so I can, by all means, immediately buy it.
Another addition that makes this CD so worthwhile is drummer Chris Brown. He is a superbly tasty and precise musician, always complimenting the music. He displays a sense of time that is absolutely right. Nothing fancy, no showing off, just doing the job as it should be done, period, a total delight to listen to.
As my wife Caren [who has helped produce the L.A. Playboy Jazz Festival for the last 16 years, and therefore really knows what she’s talking about] told me after the first time through “O’ Little Town Of Bethlehem,” she could have listened to the intro of this arrangement uncountable times and still never had a clue as to where it was going, until the melody finally popped into aural view. Although some people might disapprove of so misleading a beginning, I found it to be unusual and a delightful surprise that it did ultimately resolve into “O’ Little Town Of Bethlehem.”
Having found its way into our musically-seeking greedy hands, we have listened to “Brazilian Christmas,” more than almost any other Christmas album we have, and we’ve been collecting Christmas CD’s every year for many years. Steinberg’s “Brazilian Christmas” is pure musical enter-tainment. Exclusive use of Latin rhythms in a Christmas album is rarely if ever heard. Most Christmas melodies normally have standard chordal progressions. Jeff Steinberg has updated the chordal progressions to these Christmas melodies with much more interesting harmonic structures. You will want to add this CD to your Christmas CD collection.
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Rick Culver |
| About the author: |
| Rick Culver, a fine Jazz trombonist now based in Traverse City, MI, has been a veteran of West Coast Jazz for over 20 years. |
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