Przyzwyczailiśmy się do tego, iż przed każdymi kolejnymi Świętami Bożego Narodzenia trafiała do nas kolejna świąteczna płyta nagrana wraz z muzycznymi przyjaciółmi przez Nilsa Landgrena.
Panująca pandemia uniemożliwiła realizację kolejnej odsłony projektu "Christmas with My Friends", jednak wytwórnia ACT nie zostawiła nas w tym roku bez tradycyjnego albumu christmas.
Zebrane z różnych płyt artystów związanych z monachijską wytwórnią utwory o charakterze świątecznym, uzupełnione o kilka premierowych nagrań stworzyły bardzo ciekawą i klimatyczną kompilację.
Na albumie zatytułowanym "Christmas in the Spirit of Jazz" znalazły się świąteczne nagrania takich wykonawców jak: Nils Landgren, Adam Bałdych, Tore Brunborg, Iiro Rantala, Bugge Wesseltoft, znakomitych wokalistek: Laili Biali, Janne Mark, Caecilie Norby i Viktorii Tolstoy, oraz zespołów Echoes of Swing i Jazzrausch Bigband.
Wyjątkowym skarbem są po raz pierwszy zaprezentowane na płycie nagrania: Laili Biali ("A Child is Born") i duetu Caecilie Norby & Lars Danielson ("Have Yourself a Little Christmas").
Panująca pandemia uniemożliwiła realizację kolejnej odsłony projektu "Christmas with My Friends", jednak wytwórnia ACT nie zostawiła nas w tym roku bez tradycyjnego albumu christmas.
Zebrane z różnych płyt artystów związanych z monachijską wytwórnią utwory o charakterze świątecznym, uzupełnione o kilka premierowych nagrań stworzyły bardzo ciekawą i klimatyczną kompilację.
Na albumie zatytułowanym "Christmas in the Spirit of Jazz" znalazły się świąteczne nagrania takich wykonawców jak: Nils Landgren, Adam Bałdych, Tore Brunborg, Iiro Rantala, Bugge Wesseltoft, znakomitych wokalistek: Laili Biali, Janne Mark, Caecilie Norby i Viktorii Tolstoy, oraz zespołów Echoes of Swing i Jazzrausch Bigband.
Wyjątkowym skarbem są po raz pierwszy zaprezentowane na płycie nagrania: Laili Biali ("A Child is Born") i duetu Caecilie Norby & Lars Danielson ("Have Yourself a Little Christmas").
Premiera 29 października.
Robert Ratajczak
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Christmas in the Spirit of Jazz
CD 2021, ACT 9941-2
program:
1. Nils Landgren & Johan Norberg: Comin’ Home for Christmas
2. Echoes of Swing & Rebecca Kilgore: Winter Wonderland
3. Jessica Pilnas, Johan Norberg & Jonas Knutsson: Sleigh Ride
4. Jazzrausch Bigband: Fröhliche Weihnacht überall
5. Sharon Dyall: Just Another Christmas Song
6. Iiro Rantala: Happy Xmas, War is Over
7. Ida Sand & Jeanette Kohn: Angel's Carol
8. Janne Mark & Arve Henriksen: Vinter
9. Laila Biali: A Child is Born
10. Adam Bałdych, Helge Lien Trio & Tore Brunborg: Hallelujah
11. Nils Landgren & Jeanette Kohn: Little Drummer Boy / Peace on Earth
12. Tore Brunborg & Kjetil Bjerkestrand: Away in a Manger
13. Nils Landgren & Friends: Jul, jul strålande jul
14. Ida Sand: Giv mig ej glans
15. Bugge Wesseltoft: In Dulce Jubilo
16. Caecilie Norby & Lars Danielson: Have Yourself a Little Christmas
17. Viktoria Tolstoy, Ida Sand & Nils Landgren: Christmas Song
18. Nils Landgren: Der Mond ist aufgegangen
CD 2021, ACT 9941-2
program:
1. Nils Landgren & Johan Norberg: Comin’ Home for Christmas
2. Echoes of Swing & Rebecca Kilgore: Winter Wonderland
3. Jessica Pilnas, Johan Norberg & Jonas Knutsson: Sleigh Ride
4. Jazzrausch Bigband: Fröhliche Weihnacht überall
5. Sharon Dyall: Just Another Christmas Song
6. Iiro Rantala: Happy Xmas, War is Over
7. Ida Sand & Jeanette Kohn: Angel's Carol
8. Janne Mark & Arve Henriksen: Vinter
9. Laila Biali: A Child is Born
10. Adam Bałdych, Helge Lien Trio & Tore Brunborg: Hallelujah
11. Nils Landgren & Jeanette Kohn: Little Drummer Boy / Peace on Earth
12. Tore Brunborg & Kjetil Bjerkestrand: Away in a Manger
13. Nils Landgren & Friends: Jul, jul strålande jul
14. Ida Sand: Giv mig ej glans
15. Bugge Wesseltoft: In Dulce Jubilo
16. Caecilie Norby & Lars Danielson: Have Yourself a Little Christmas
17. Viktoria Tolstoy, Ida Sand & Nils Landgren: Christmas Song
18. Nils Landgren: Der Mond ist aufgegangen
_______________________________________________
tekst prasowy:
Just as there are a multitude of different ways to celebrate Christmas, there is also a vast and appetising array of Christmas music. And whereas Nils Landgren's "Christmas With My Friends" series has been an integral part of the run-up to the holiday season for the past 15 years, it is far from being all that ACT has to offer: a host of other artists from the label have created their own distinctive Christmas sounds. These range from the quiet contemplations of pianist Bugge Wesseltoft or the hymn-inspired "Nordic Christmas" from saxophonist Tore Brunborg, to music from Canadian singer Laila Biali or “a touch of class” (The Observer) from Echoes of Swing... and even the coruscating and youthful energy of the Jazzrausch Bigband. All these and many more are to be found on "Christmas in the Spirit of Jazz". This is the ACT Christmas soundtrack for 2021.
Tracks from all eight of the "Christmas With My Friends" albums are the thread running through this Christmas compilation. Nils Landgren sets the celebrations in motion with "Coming' Home for Christmas", the album opener. In the course of the album’s eighteen tracks, we hear a roster of other soloists: Jessica Pilnäs, Johan Norberg and Jonas Knutson bring seasonal joy to Leroy Anderson’s swinging classic "Sleigh Ride"; Sharon Dyall with her blues-infused voice jingles us through the lively "Just Another Christmas Song"; Ida Sand and Jeanette Köhn sing John Rutter’s "Angel's Carol" in a gently-paced duet. As German magazine Stern has remarked of "Christmas With My Friends”, this is music which "sparkles like the starry sky of a Nordic winter night".
We cross the border from Sweden into Norway for another Christmas classic: Bugge Wesseltoft recorded one of the best-selling Christmas albums in Norway with his piano solo CD "It's Snowing On My Piano": the plaintive sounds of Wesseltoft playing "In Dulce Jubilo" have an irresistible simplicity and directness. And then on to Denmark for Janne Mark: she sings about "Vinter", a delightful hymn which brings light and warmth to Scandinavia's season of darkness.
Christmas with the Jazzrausch Bigband is lively and sassy. Sometimes loud, sometimes quiet, the stylish sound of this big band has been superbly caught: "Fröhliche Weihnacht überall" ("Merry Christmas everywhere") takes us a long way from the quieter and more contemplative vibe to be heard elsewhere on "Christmas in the Spirit of Jazz". Echoes of Swing with Rebecca Kilgore treat us to a superb "Winter Wonderland": it’s swinging and American - but with a knowing, five-four smile.
A song which was not originally written with Christmas in mind, but which has nonetheless found its way into the canon is "A Child is Born" by Thad Jones: Laila Biali's version of it is released here on CD for the first time. Another which has also become a Christmas evergreen is Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". Polish violinist Adam Bałdych interprets it here. And with "Happy Xmas, War is Over" from 1971, we hear Iiro Rantala paying homage to John Lennon. His solo piano interpretation is virtuosic yet has depth, and the song’s message of peace could not be more topical or important than it is today.
Caecilie Norby and Lars Danielsson have made a new recording of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" especially for "Christmas in the Spirit of Jazz". We hear just the duo of voice and bass, the mood carefree yet festive. "Christmas Song" is heard in a calmly uplifting version from Viktoria Tolstoy, with Ida Sand, Ulf Wakenius and Nils Landgren. And finally Mr. Redhorn brings "Christmas in the Spirit of Jazz" to an atmospheric conclusion on solo trombone: "Der Mond ist aufgegangen" ("The Moon is Risen") is from his recently released solo album "Nature Boy". Landgren’s trombone sound echoes weightlessly through space and time: the final mood is one of contemplation and peace.
Tracks from all eight of the "Christmas With My Friends" albums are the thread running through this Christmas compilation. Nils Landgren sets the celebrations in motion with "Coming' Home for Christmas", the album opener. In the course of the album’s eighteen tracks, we hear a roster of other soloists: Jessica Pilnäs, Johan Norberg and Jonas Knutson bring seasonal joy to Leroy Anderson’s swinging classic "Sleigh Ride"; Sharon Dyall with her blues-infused voice jingles us through the lively "Just Another Christmas Song"; Ida Sand and Jeanette Köhn sing John Rutter’s "Angel's Carol" in a gently-paced duet. As German magazine Stern has remarked of "Christmas With My Friends”, this is music which "sparkles like the starry sky of a Nordic winter night".
We cross the border from Sweden into Norway for another Christmas classic: Bugge Wesseltoft recorded one of the best-selling Christmas albums in Norway with his piano solo CD "It's Snowing On My Piano": the plaintive sounds of Wesseltoft playing "In Dulce Jubilo" have an irresistible simplicity and directness. And then on to Denmark for Janne Mark: she sings about "Vinter", a delightful hymn which brings light and warmth to Scandinavia's season of darkness.
Christmas with the Jazzrausch Bigband is lively and sassy. Sometimes loud, sometimes quiet, the stylish sound of this big band has been superbly caught: "Fröhliche Weihnacht überall" ("Merry Christmas everywhere") takes us a long way from the quieter and more contemplative vibe to be heard elsewhere on "Christmas in the Spirit of Jazz". Echoes of Swing with Rebecca Kilgore treat us to a superb "Winter Wonderland": it’s swinging and American - but with a knowing, five-four smile.
A song which was not originally written with Christmas in mind, but which has nonetheless found its way into the canon is "A Child is Born" by Thad Jones: Laila Biali's version of it is released here on CD for the first time. Another which has also become a Christmas evergreen is Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". Polish violinist Adam Bałdych interprets it here. And with "Happy Xmas, War is Over" from 1971, we hear Iiro Rantala paying homage to John Lennon. His solo piano interpretation is virtuosic yet has depth, and the song’s message of peace could not be more topical or important than it is today.
Caecilie Norby and Lars Danielsson have made a new recording of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" especially for "Christmas in the Spirit of Jazz". We hear just the duo of voice and bass, the mood carefree yet festive. "Christmas Song" is heard in a calmly uplifting version from Viktoria Tolstoy, with Ida Sand, Ulf Wakenius and Nils Landgren. And finally Mr. Redhorn brings "Christmas in the Spirit of Jazz" to an atmospheric conclusion on solo trombone: "Der Mond ist aufgegangen" ("The Moon is Risen") is from his recently released solo album "Nature Boy". Landgren’s trombone sound echoes weightlessly through space and time: the final mood is one of contemplation and peace.
