Deep Roots Magazine

 
 

 
Sing We Now of Christmas

Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That String!

Canada's THE SULTANS OF STRING and their guests put a new spin on the spirit of the season, but it's is still the spirit we’ve known for bringing good tidings of great joy. Dig the best Christmas album of the 2017 Yuletide se...
by David McGee
 
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Sing We Now of Christmas

The Deep Roots Yuletide Baedeker v2022

It's back! The Deep Roots 2022 Yuletide Baedeker is updated and ready for prime time.
by David McGee
 
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Sing We Now of Christmas

The Murky Origins & Everlasting Life of ‘Jingle Bells’

In 1850 JAMES LORD PIERPONT, inspired by one-horse open-sleigh races in his home town, wrote a Thanksgiving ditty for his father's Sunday School class. Thus the humble origin of 'Jingle Bells.'
by David McGee
 
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Sing We Now of Christmas

Ding Dong, Merrily On High, Indeed!

Returned to print by Real Gone Music, THE THREE SUNS' amazing 1959 seasonal effort, A DING DONG DANDY CHRISTMAS, is lounge exotica run amuck, a genuine Yuletide gem.
by David McGee
 
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Sing We Now of Christmas

In All Weathers, Glad Tidings

The Persuasions were just not any group of a cappella practitioners--they were the best, solid in every way, with lead singer Jerry Lawson standing out as one of the great singers of his time. The group's Christmas album, like...
by David McGee
 
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Sing We Now of Christmas

The Ellingtonian ‘Nutcracker’

An appreciation of THE NUTCRACKER SUITE as DUKE ELLINGTON & BILLY STRAYHORN reimagined it in 1960 and of a new take by THE HARMONIA ENSEMBLE conducted by STEVEN RICHMOND.
by David McGee
 
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Sing We Now of Christmas

A Soul Ever More Grateful For What It Knows Of Love

An updated review of a holiday classic: B.B. KING's A CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION OF HOPE. Indeed it is.
by David McGee
 
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Sing We Now of Christmas

Spanning the Global Yuletide Season in Style

An a cappella seasonal classic, ARSYS BOURGOGNE's 2012 Yuletide offering features Yuletide favorites from across the globe, sacred and secular, sung in seven different languages, all beautifully capturing the spirit of Christma...
by David McGee
 
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Features / News

Pt. 2: ‘God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen’ and The Dickens Connection

Ever wonder what is the Christmas carol of Dickens's 'A Christmas Carol'? Evidence points to 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' as the carol in question. We make our case herein.
by David McGee
 
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Sing We Now of Christmas

The Deep Roots Yuletide Baedeker 2020

Welcome back our CHRISTMAS BAEDEKER, the all-inclusive guide to the best in holiday fare, from movies to cartoons to music to stories behind the songs to Christmas poetry to...well, you name it, we got it! Buon Natale!
by David McGee
 
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Sing We Now of Christmas

Somewhere There is Morningtown, Many Miles Away

Holiday albums by THE SEEKERS and JUDITH DURHAM praised and appraised. God bless us all, every one!
by David McGee
 
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Sing We Now of Christmas

The Yuletide Report From the Chairman of the Board

Revised and updated, this appraisal of Frank Sinatra's Christmas recordings as an art form unto themselves was first published in TheBluegrassSpecial.com in 2008.
by David McGee
 
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Before Deep Roots existed, it was TheBluegrassSpecial.com, from April 2008 through July 2012.