It's Christmas

I did not grow up listening intently to “Silent Night” or “Good King Wenceslas”, although no one with a radio or television could help but hear traditional carols throughout the holiday season. (Of course, when I was young, the holiday season ran a mere two weeks.) Raised instead on “Rock of Ages” and “I Have A Little Dreidel,” perhaps I am in no position to review “holiday” (aka Christmas) recordings. Or maybe I am, having no family listening traditions to limit my expectations or bias my judgments. Bombarded by holiday music from the last burp of Thanksgiving til the final New Year’s Day Bowl broadcast, I become sonically immune well before “the first Christmas snow” such that it takes a recording of distinctive sound, arrangement and virtuosity to elicit my attention. Two such productions found their way to my ears this season.

PJ Parker, It’s Christmas (PJ Creatives)

New York native PJ came to my attention last year with her debut, Intimate, introducing me (and hopefully a widening audience) to a vocalist who makes every note and phrase a personal experiment, with interpretations of standards that are defined by nuance rather than by big leaps and twists. Her new digital collection of mostly traditional fare (supported by pianist Vinnie Ruggieri and bassist Earl Sauls) is best enjoyed with a few props--a glass of brandy, a crackling fire, and a close confidante.

PJ Parker

“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” is as sweet as it gets, while “Jingle Bells” features great bass accompaniment from Earl Sauls and introduces another side of PJ, the playful and seductive chanteuse. Filled with old fashioned swing, who would not want to go for the sleigh ride with her? PJ makes elastic jumps across her range and pianist Vinnie Ruggieri is definitely in the holiday spirit. She follows with heartfelt renditions of “A Child Is Born” and “I Wonder As I Wander.” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is given sweet ballad treatment, the slow pace giving the lyrics top billing while PJ nevertheless makes the tune her own. Ruggieri throws in some piano licks from other holiday tunes, including a a tipoff to the next track. While it seems challenging to make “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” sound anything but trite, PJ pulls it off with her phrasing and that playful lilt; you have a feeling she was just a little bit naughty herself. Santa would certainly come if just to hear PJ.

“Stay With Me” by Cy Coleman and David Zippel was new to me, a ballad in which PJ pulls as much emotion as sound from her vowels and phrases. Next comes the swingingest holiday tune ever, “Everybody’s Waiting for the Man With the Bag,” here delivered with a bit more vibrato. A gentle romp for Ruggieri, PJ takes more sultry liberties on the second chorus. “Deck the Halls” follows at a lovingly slow pace and serves her purpose quickly in under two minutes.

A live version of “Silent Night” (recorded live at Rosse’s) turns into a bluesy, soulful display of yet another side of PJ’s vocal and emotional range. Ruggieri wastes no time showing off his blues chops as well. You don’t need Aretha’s power to preach! “The Christmas Song” is another tune that could be dismissed as overly familiar…but don’t head off for another egg nog yet, or you’ll miss PJ’s personally fashioned finale and her band’s exquisite, tinsel-draped support.

It’s Christmas is available for single track or full download at www.pjparker.net.

The Cool Season, Volume 2 (Origin Records)

Cool Season

The elegant success of The Cool Season, Volume Two will encourage you to seek out Volume One. Among the nine tracks, the quartet presents traditional and standard holiday melodies as well as two originals from Jeff Johnson and covers of Willie Nelson and Alec Wilder. On the opening modern classic, “Christmas Time Is Here” (Vince Guaraldi/Lee Mendelson), Marriott’s wistful flugelhorn makes you long for the holidays of your childhood. With a second chorus more twisty and bright, Anschell bounces his chords under the horn, picking apart the tune himself on the third chorus as Bishop rumbles on the toms and tingles the cymbals, while Johnson keeps up a sprightly pace. “The Christmas Song” features a wonderfully whiney flugelhorn, a sinewy reworking of the classic with some deeply scraping bass tones and mallets that give the underlying pulse an almost primal quality; Anschell provides a thickly harmonized solo. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” becomes a bop standard with Marriott’s trumpet moving from the traditional melody to a curvy abstraction, exploding each chord into a shower of tinsel. On “Winter Wonderland,” Anschell provides an inventive countermelody in tandem with Marriott’s horn, which at first delivers a straightforward interpretation before dismantling the harmonies in a boppish remake.

Jeff Johnson’s “Winter Solace” is soothing without cloying, featuring gentle, exquisitely fashioned piano work with faint yet definitive bass tones. His “Skating” also provides an opportunity for the bassist to shine. An interesting addition, Willie Nelson’s “Pretty Paper” is highlighted by muted trumpet, bass and drums, with the piano joining in with a low-register counterpoint. Not surprisingly, this track has a slightly bluegrassy tone. Johnson sustains that country flavor in his deep-popping solo.

Thomas Marriott

I eagerly await Volume Three.

The Cool Season is available from Origin Records (www.origin-records.com) and online music outlets.

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