Christmas standouts heard today:
WSIE 88.7 FM
- Frosty The Snowman-Monday Off with Bucky Pizzarelli (Singing about Frosty's prowess on guitar reveals another admirable facet of his character.)
- Santa Claus Is Coming To Town-Bill Evans (That must be one hip Santa, if he makes his entrance to this cool slice of piano jazz.)
- Frosty The Snowman-The Ronettes (One of the tune's best arrangements, sung with a light, upbeat touch.)
- Pastorale (O Christmas Tree)-Canadian Brass featuring Eric Robertson (An interesting blend of hymnlike stateliness from the brass players and slightly whimsical, seemingly calliope-inspired underpinning from Eric Robertson on the organ.)
- Tchaikovsky: Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy-The 442s with Peter Martin (During today's interview with Radio Arts Foundation's Kathy Lawton Brown, 442s instrumentalist Adam Maness jokingly referred to this arrangement as a nightmare. Actually, it's the freshest, jazziest take on this piece I've heard. Peter Martin's piano accompaniment is a key ingredient of the arrangement's appeal.)
- Fanfare/Joy To The World (Live)-The Bach Society Of St. Louis & Dr. A. Dennis Sparger (The commanding, brassy introduction made me think The Boston Pops were about to play "Liberty Fanfare" by John Williams. This beautiful blend of vocalists, recorded at Powell Symphony Hall, "repeat(s) the sounding joy" compellingly.)
