Product Details
Swing into Christmas

Swing into Christmas
Jr. Grover Washington, Terrence Blanchard, Marcus Roberts, David Sachez, Tremaine Hawkins, Wynton Marsalis

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Track Listing

  1. Cradle in Bethlehem - Grover Washington, Jr.
  2. Blue Christmas - Terence Blanchard, Grover Washington, Jr.
  3. O Come All Ye Faithful - Marcus Roberts
  4. Winter Wonderland - Marcus Roberts
  5. Christmas Time Is Here - Terence Blanchard
  6. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Terence Blanchard, David Sanchez
  7. Amazing Grace - Tramaine Hawkins
  8. First Noel - Tramaine Hawkins
  9. Carol of the Bells - Wynton Marsalis
  10. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Wynton Marsalis

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #61832 in Music
  • Released on: 1995-11-14
  • Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Swingin Christmas tunes4
We liked MOST of the songs on the CD. A risk you take when buying CD's. My husband was not happy with the vocalist on Amazing Grace, but he was expecting a instrumental CD . We purchased it mainly because we had heard "Christmas Time is Here" on the radio. Great arrangement. And we found this great bargain deal on the amazon marketplace. For a live concert recording - very well done.

A Nice Holiday Treat4
The CD's title may mislead the consumer into thinking this is a WWII big-band Christmas date. "Swing Into Christmas" is anything but.

There are two selections ("Carol of the Bells"; "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!") on this "entirely live" date that have a larger-band format, led by Wynton Marsalis. However, without any musical training whatsoever, the amount of "swing" on this disc can be interpreted as differently as the musical definition of the word. For example, Parker, Monk, Miles and Brubeck all swing, right? But is theirs "swing" music?

Make no mistake: this disc does, indeed, swing. With the exception of the extremely powerful Tramaine Hawkins' rendition of "Amazing Grace," her interpretation of "The First Noel" (which I really didn't care for), and Marcus Roberts' reverential "O Come All Ye Faithful," there isn't a tune that you can't tap your feet to. Even the slower tunes (Grover Washington on "A Cradle in Bethlehem" and Terrance Blanchard's piercing "Christmas Time Is Here") have a sense of rhythym that is impossible to ignore.

Perhaps the only tunes listeners may identify as "swing" are Blanchard's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and Marsalis' "Let It Snow!" But don't let that dissuade you from purchasing this for someone's stocking stuffer (or your own). I've played this disc every holiday season, and countless times throughout the year.