Outline The songs are familiar carols, but A Windham Hill Christmas retains the Windham Hill Winter Solstice series tradition of unusual arrangements and performances that evoke the mood of the season, especially if your take on that mood is a Northeast, snow-covered landscape, like that depicted on the Hallmark card-like cover. The usual bevy of Windham Hill sampler artists are all here, but it's some of the secondary cast that give the most innovative performances. Tracy Silverman & Thea Suits reinvent "Silent Night." With his pizzicato-delay violin, Silverman lays down a 6/8 rhythm while abstracting the familiar hymn across his bowed violin and Suits's flute, turning it into an ethereal instrumental chorale. Barbara Higbie re-ignites "In Dulci Jubilo" as a Celtic reel, overdubbing herself on piano, violin, Celtic harp and synthesizer. And W.G. Snuffy Walden lays some rustic acoustic guitar across a chamber reading of "The First Noel." There's a few clunkers, notably George Winston inflicting his Vince Guaraldi infatuation on us again; Jim Brickman with a rote reading of "O Holy Night"; and an uncharacteristically saccharine arrangement of "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" by the usually sublime Tim Story. But Mom and Dad will like them, and they serve to highlight the inventiveness of the rest of A Windham Hill Christmas, which is nostalgic and atmospheric at the same time. --John Diliberto
Item Specifications...
Record Label Windham Hill Records
Dimensions: Length: 4.32" Width: 6.2" Height: 0.39" Weight: 0.13 lbs.
Binding CD
Release Date Oct 7, 2003
Publisher PROVIDENT CHRISTMAS #58
ISBN 0012250430 EAN 0019341165125 UPC 019341165125
Availability 0 units.
Product Categories
1
Music > Special Features > Holiday Music 2003 > General Christmas [175 similar products]
2
Music > Styles > Alternative Rock > Alternative Styles > Rock > Space Rock [62 similar products]
1 Sussex Carol - Brian Dunning 2:22 2 Angels We Have Heard on High - Steve Erquiaga 4:08 3 O Holy Night - Jim Brickman 3:34 4 In Dulci Jubilo - Barbara Higbie 3:59 5 Christmas Is Coming - George Winston 3:48 6 The First Noel - W.G. Snuffy Walden 3:48 7 It Came Upon a Midnight Clear - Tim Story 3:06 8 Silent Night - Thea Suits-Silverman 3:38 9 Christ the Apple Tree/Once in Royal David's City - Alex de Grassi 3:40 10 Deck the Halls - Liz Story 3:02 11 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - Paul McCandless 3:50 12 What Strangers Are These - David Cullen 3:20 13 The Holly and the Ivy - Nightnoise 4:14 14 Lo, How a Rose - Paul Schwartz 3:55
Buyer Beware Dec 21, 2005
This CD is "copy protected" and will not work in iTunes or on your iPod. So much for the holiday spirit .. I buy a CD and they won't even let me listen to it on my iPod!
WISH I HAD BOUGHT SOMETHING ELSE......... Aug 5, 2003
I THOUGHT I WAS GETTING SOME NEW ARRANGEMENTS OF TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS MUSIC OR EVEN THE OLD STANDARD ARRANGEMENTS, BUT THIS IS MAILY PIANO AND GUTIAR AND I DON'T CARE MUCH FOR THAT TYPE OF CHRISTMAS MUSIC. FOR THOSE WHO LIKE THIS TYPE OF MUSIC IT IS A GOOD CD TO HAVE.
Superb Continuation of the Windham Hill Tradition Dec 15, 2002
A Windham Hill Christmas is a delightful, calming presentation of seasonal favorites -- perfect for a quiet, cozy eve before the fire. The new or veteran WH listener will find a nice collection of the labels best artists - Brickman, de Grassi, ACkerman (guitar), Winston (piano), Nightnoise (instrumental/vocal) -- as well as the lesser known who lend variety and depth to this collection. A Windham Hill Christmas is a pleasant continuation of the atmosphere created in the label's Winter Solstice and December albums and calming contrast to the pop, rock and new age, electronically synthesized tones for a more hectic pace.
A fantastic new release Nov 24, 2002
This is my first Windham Hill CD, but I have listened to at least one of their artists (J. Brickman) previously. Every year I shop for new Christmas CDs in November, and this one came out in October, so it's good timing.
For the most part the songs are smooth, mellow, and very relaxing, taking a pretty traditional approach to the songs. The only exceptions are the "Sussex Carol", which is somewhat fast, and "Christmas is Coming", by Vince Guaraldi, which is quite fast.
As one fellow reviewer noted, tracks 5 and 6 are switched from the liner track listing. When I first listened to [the supposed] "First Noel" I thought, "What kind of version is this?!" until I listened to the other track and realized the mix-up.
If you want an easy-listening night by the fire this is a wonderful accompaniment. It should enjoy a long life in my Christmas CD collection.
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