The Music Man Top 3 Jazz Christmas CDs

Most people love the traditional songs of the Christmas season but after hearing your favorite songs for the tenth time in ten days, I am sure you are ready for a change. Well, the Music Man Blog has just the right medicine for your tired ears.  I have found 3 new Christmas Jazz CDs that are just terrific.

The first CD is "Noel" from Tianna Hall & Chris Cortez. Chris is president and CEO of "Blue Bamboo Music" and Tianna Hall is one of the label's star performers. The arrangements on this CD are terrific thanks to the wonderful work of Mark Piszczek who did most of the charts. There are 6 arrangements by Piszczek and 3 arrangements by Cortez. This CD is very professionally done with great arrangements that fit the fine vocals from Tianna Hall perfectly. The other supporting players are all top-notch:

Chris Cortez: Guitar, Additional Vocals                 Warren Sneed: Alto Saxophone, Flute
Anthony Sapp: Bass                                                Thomas Hulten: Trombone, Bass Trombone
Paul English: Piano                                                 Special Guests:
Tom Cummings: Vibraphone, Drums                           Joel Fulgham: Drums on "We Three Kings"
Dennis Dolson: Trumpet                                               Memo Reza: Drums on "The Angels"
Woody Witt: Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet                 Vocals: Tianna Hall

Buy this CD and you will be playing it every Christmas; it's a keeper!

                                              "In Studio" YouTube Video "We Three Kings"

The second CD is by The Manhattan Brass, "Manhattan Brass Holiday". Manhattan Brass has been around for over 20 years.  They have been known for their innovative programming, dynamic performances and a commitment to educating audiences of all ages about live music and the brass idiom.  The sounds and arrangements on this CD are new, fresh and enjoyable.  Jack Walrath did the arrangements on tracks 2,3,4,5 and 10.  Carla Bley did the arrangements on tracks 1,6,7,8,9, and 11. The six brass players performing are nothing short of brilliant. Wayne du Maine: Trumpet, Lew Soloff: Trumpet, RJ Kelley: Horn,Michael Seltzer: Trombone, David Taylor: Bass Trombone, Ann Ellsworth: Horn. This CD would make a great Christmas gift for any Brass lover!

                                             Two Tracks From The Manhattan Brass New 
                                             Holiday Album, "Manhattan Brass Holiday" on 
                                             YouTube.

The third CD Tim Warfield's "Jazzy Christmas" was reviewed by The Music Man Blog on December 30th of 2012. I received the review copy late in December 2012 and published the review after Christmas because it was too good not to let my readers know about it. Check out my blog review published on December 30th, 2012. This CD is one of the best Jazz CDs I have heard in many years. Tim's improvisation is fresh and exciting and so are the arrangements he did for 7 of the tracks on this CD.

                                           Live Performance of "Let It Snow" by By Tim Warfield
                                           and Joanna Pascale on vocal.

All or any of these CDs would make wonderful gifts for friends or family and a must in your collection of Christmas music.

CD Review: Tianna Hall & The Mexico City Jazz Trio

Most of the readers of The Musicman Blog have a deep love of the "Great American Songbook". The new CD "Two For The Road" from Tianna Hall and the Mexico City Jazz Trio will be a real treat for you.  This is the fourth release for Tianna Hall, a two-time Grammy recognized vocalist who is based in Houston, Texas. This is also her second collaboration with the Mexico City Jazz Trio. Tianna brought her unique voice and approach to some of the best American songs ever written. Take a look at this spectacular list of songs:

1. Til There Was You- Meredith Wilson
2. What Is This Thing Called Love?-Cole Porter
3. When October Goes-Johnny Mercer & Barry Manilow
4. They Can't Take That Away From Me-Andrew William Thorpe & George Gershwin
5. Black Hole Sun-Chris Cornell
6. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To-Cole Porter
7. Creep-Mike Hazelwood, Albert Hammond
8. I've Never Been In Love Before-Frank Loesser
9. Good Morning Heartache-Irene Higginbotham, Ervin Drake, Dan Fisher
10. I'm Not In Love-Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart
11. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down & Write Myself A Letter- Joe Young, Fred Ahlert
12. So In Love-Cole Porter
13. Moon River-Johnny Mercer & Henry Mancini
14. Two For The Road- Leslie Bricusse, Henry Mancini

Tianna Hall loves to sing standards and she has the musical skills to perform perfectly.  She is blessed on this CD with some super sidemen that bring the total musical product to the highest level.  Miguel Villicana did most of the wonderful arrangements and played piano beautifully, Agustin Bernal's bass playing was great and Gabriel Puentes drumming provided a perfect foundation for the group.  Of note also was the fact that David Caceres sang and played sax on "They Can't Take That Away From Me" and also was Associate Producer and assisted with the audio engineering.  David is a truly talented musician and if you are not familiar with David, look up the June 12th, 2012 blog I posted on his latest CD.

By the way, when is the last time you bought a new CD with 14 songs on it. Yea! to Tianna Hall for giving her fans a bonus number of songs. You can buy this CD for $9.99 on iTunes and other music sources.