A Jazz Christmas, That Special Time of the Year

A warm rendition of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas features the musicians from Metropolitan's souvenir CD Memories of New York: Thru Jazz & Photography with Vincent Herring on soprano sax, Gary Fisher on piano, George Mitchell on bass and Carl Allen on drums.

A shimmering version of The Christmas Waltz is performed by the famed trio of pianist Billy Childs, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Carl Allen.

The Christmas Song, a "chestnut" by anyone's standards, is sung beautifully here by Metropolian's first vocal artist Debra Holly and accompanied by the Linda Presgrave Trio. I'll Never Forget You, Debra's CD on Metropolian, features her voice in a variety of settings.

Linda Presgrave puts her own unique spin on the holiday favorite Jingle Bells in a lively Brazilian samba rendition. Bass player Wei-Sheng Lin and drummer Seiji Ochiai, her most capable side kicks, are also featured on The Journey.

Level Playing Field pianist Falkner Evans puts his own arranging stamp on Hark the Herald Angels Sing with Wei-Sheng Lin and Seiji Ochiai completing the the ensemble.

A blues twist to the Christmas classic Silent Night features Stan Chovnick stretching out with the Linda Presgrave Quartet once again as he did previously on The Journey.

On Debra Holly's CD I'll Never Forget You, she received praise from the reviewers for her work on "the Addams Family" theme song. Frosty the Snowman gets a similar whimsical not from her on this seasonal favorite.

Vincent Herring displays his beautiful soprano saxophone tone once again on O Christmas Tree. The other musicians from The Sterling Place All-Stars (Ronnie Mathews on piano, Richie Goodes on bass and Carl Allen on drums) serve up some extra special playing themselves.

The original tune That Special Time of Year, by pianist Linda Presgrave, serves as the title track on this CD. The trio, with Harie S on bass and Seiji Ochiai on drums, recorded this rendition for Linda's CD The Journey in 2005. Harvie was also one of the bass players featured on Linda's CD In Your Eyes.

Tenor saxophonist extraordinaire Billy Harper plays his heart out on this unique arrangement of It Came Upon a Midnight Clear with his quartet of outstanding musicians including Francesca Tanksley on piano, Clarence Seay on bass and Newman Taylor Baker on drums. His CD Soul of an Angel continues to be one of Metropolitan's best selling CDs.

From Stan Chovnick, President of Metropolitan Records:
"I would like to thank all of the great musicians who participated on this project and who helped to make this CD possible. Secondly, I would like to dedicate this CD to my two children Rebecca and Susannah who I love very much. And finally, I would like to wish everyone happiness, peace on earth and a very Merry Christmas."

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