Track Listing

1. Adeste Fideles - Suzanne Ciani
2. Snow Shadows - Sean Harkness
3. Joy to the World - Jim Brickman
4. Winter Fire - Janis Ian
5. Greensleeves - George Winston
6. Omwoyo - Will Ackerman, Samite
7. In Bethlehem City - Paul McCandless
8. Forevergreenman - Liz Story
9. Angel Child - Samite
10. Oh Holy Night - Suzanne Ciani
11. Upon a Winter's Morn - Lisa Lynne
12. New Trees at Knockaun - Nightnoise
13. Welcome Christmas - Sean Harkness

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #83081 in Music
• Released on: 2000-09-26
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Simple. Sweet. That nicely sums up Simple Gifts, another holiday compilation released under the Windham Hill banner. Long-time fans of the label will be pleased to discover this package that, outside of the two vocal tracks involving Ugandan musician Samite, largely exudes a classic Windham Hill feel--meaning minimal schmaltz, refined folk-pop-classical compositions, and thoughtful performances. Highlights: A lovely solo piano take on "Joy to the World" by Jim Brickman (an alternative to the orchestrated version he includes on The Gift); a small slice of regal romanticism from pianist Liz Story ("Forevergreenman") that hints at her grand Solid Colors period (more, please); and a warm, wonderful duet on acoustic guitar by Janis Ian and Philip Clark ("Winter Fire"). George Winston takes a slight left turn with a melancholy, jazz-tinged version of "Greensleeves" in another nod to Vince Guaraldi. Only three tracks are overtly holiday related, and pianist-keyboardist Suzanne Ciani applies a benevolent, atmospheric sheen to two of them ("Adeste Fideles/Come All Ye Faithful" and "Oh Holy Night"). The packaging is bare-bones and not every piece is a gem, but enough of them are to make Simple Gifts a worthwhile seasonal addition. --Terry Wood

Customer Reviews

Not Bad Not Great
I own a few of the Windham hill Christmas collections and this is fair. If you don't already own it, I would recommend either Carols of Christmas (the original NOT the second one) and or Winter solstice ( either the original or Winter Solstice VI). These are similar records in style but are just much better recordings than this one.

Fireside and mulled wine
I first heard this CD at a friend's house, and had to have it. If you're looking for the perfect Christmas music to go along with a warm hearth and warmer mulled wine, this is it. The holidays should not be stressful!