Thursday, December 18, 2014

Favorite pairs of segues X (Christmas edition II)

More of my favorite pairs of Christmas tunes that segue well:

   1.  Do You Hear What I Hear?-Hampton String Quartet
   2.  Winter Wonderland-David Grisman
(Classical meets neo-jazz, and it works.)
---
   3.  Sussex Carol-Canadian Brass
   4.  Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring-Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
(A quiet instrumental version of "Sussex Carol" blends nicely into a quietly sung version of "Jesu, Joy...")
---
   5.  The First Nowell-Roger Wagner Chorale
   6.  Mary's Boy Child-Harry Belafonte
(Two stately renditions sung with appropriate gravity.)
---
   7.  2000 Miles-The Pretenders
   8.  A Warm Little Home On A Hill-Stevie Wonder
(An effective contrast between distance and close proximity in these lyrics.)
---
   9.  Good King Wenceslas-Loreena McKennitt
 10.  Angels We Have Heard On High-Kenny Rankin & Laurence Juber
(These two carols segue well in almost any combination of versions.)
---
 11.  Fum, Fum, Fum-Robert Shaw Chamber Singers
 12.  Shepherd's Pipe Carol-James Galway
(If you prefer that your carol singers not skimp on emoting, these two tracks should go over well.)
---
 13.  It Came Upon The Midnight Clear-Rosanne Cash
 14.  What Child Is This?-Tony Trischka
(Two more carols that segue well in almost any combo of renditions.  Cash's intimate vocals flow smoothly into Trischka's understated banjo arrangement.)
---
 15.  A Gift Of Love-The Boones
 16.  Silent Night-Boyz II Men
(Two ensembles capture the solemnity of Christmas through beautiful harmonizing.)
---
 17.  Christmas Time Is Here-Vince Guaraldi
 18.  Welcome Christmas-"How The Grinch Stole Christmas" soundtrack
(Two of the purest ways in which to give Christmas its due.)
---
 19.  A Special Wish-B.W. Stevenson
 20.  There's No Place Like Home-Glen Campbell
(Here's hoping everyone can be with the ones who mean the most to them this holiday season--in spirit, at a minimum.)