Tales of Two Carols
Origin stories: 'In the Bleak Midwinter' and 'Angels We Have Heard on High'
Hag Saw It All Coming
Originally issued on Capitol in 1973 as Merle Haggard's Christmas Present: Something Old, Something New, Merle Haggard's Christmas album has only 10 cuts, but all have a special--and many a prescient--feeling about them. Hag sa...
From The Inkwell: An Animated Christmas
Four DVDs, five timeless holiday shows worthy for inclusion in any Christmas video collection. Stories well told, with humor, warmth, sensitivity. wisdom and outstanding animation. All essential titles for any serious Yuletide ...
Timeless Enya, for All Seasons
Irish enchantress Enya has offered not a Christmas album, but rather an album-length meditation on the Yuletide season, its sound, its totems, its joys, its summons to reflection and introspection.
‘Zat You, Santa Claus?
Brian Setzer puts on his cat clothes and rocks the yule again...and again, putting his indelible stamp on rock 'n' roll Yuletide fare for all time.
Strictly Coolsville
A trio of brilliant holiday albums bearing title variations of WONDERLAND rank with the essential anthologies of seasonal fare. Released in 2003, the recordings range from rare to familiar, the artists from obscure to beloved. ...
A Christmas Classic For A Nuclear Armageddon
A seasonal classic born of an interfaith couple’s mutual concern for the fate of the world during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. The origin story of 'DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR?'
The Coolest Yule
The Uptown Vocal Jazz Quartet's first seasonal outpouring, FOOLS FOR YULE, offers some bracing surprises in its mix of original songs and classic holiday fare.
Where Western Classical Meets Native American Musical Culture
A citizen of both the United States and of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, composer JEROD IMPICHCHAACHAHA' TATE's music reflects his dual heritage. ROBERT HUGILL offers an informed perspective on this intriguing composer's art.
‘Almost Certainly Telepathic’
Do you believe in magic? South African guitar virtuoso GUY BUTTERY does, after an 'almost telepathic' session with MOHD. AMJAD KHAN and MUDASSIR KHAN, two master musicians from India, yielded the beautiful ONE MORNING IN GARGAON.
A Composer Reclaims His Faith
Classical editor ROBERT HUGILL considers CALUM BUILDER's 'Messe (You Are Where You Want to Be), a work which deconstructs the Latin mass to explore the composer's own journey, deconstructing and reconstructing his relationship ...
This Very Tree, The Survivor Tree & A Hundred Thousand Welcomes
On the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on America, our acclaimed kids' lit blogger, JULES, finds fresh perspectives for young readers in three new books, two specifically addressing the World Trade Center attacks, another ...
