music review

J*,

A few weeks ago you asked me to listen to a CD of jazz Christmas music, and to give you my honest opinion of it, since you know of my passion for many types of jazz music. I apologize for taking so long to get back to you, as I am sure you wanted to give some feedback to your friend who performs on it. Well, here goes nothing: (i.e. my first music review)!

If one of the artists on the CD were my son or daughter, I would purchase many copies of this album and give them to all of my friends at Christmas.

If I received this album as a gift from one of my friends, I would play it occasionally, but I would not ask my friend how I could obtain a copy for my sister.

If I were the office manager of a law firm or accountants’ office, I would hire this band to sing at our Christmas party, especially if the band agreed to arrive in period attire.

Were I a radio DJ, would I play any of this album on air? No, with the exceptions of “Jingle Bells” (track 6), “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” (track 11), and “It’s Christmas” (track 13). “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” (track 7) might have made my radio play list if the soprano could have refrained from adding her featured part toward the end (3:41 minutes in). Same thing for “What Are You Doing New Years Eve?” (track 16 at 0:52, 3:21, and 3:37), although I might play it anyway because the instrumental parts were so nice and the song itself is wonderful.

This brings me to my main reason why this CD just doesn’t delight me: the young woman singing soprano. Her voice, in my UNEDUCATED opinion, is just not “star” quality, and worse, is sometimes quite irritating. Do you remember the opening credits in the movie My Best Friend’s Wedding? (You can come over and see it if you don’t – we have a copy.) That cute-sy style seems to be what the soprano in this Christmas CD is trying for. While it does match the style of the 40s’ era of music, she seems to go too far with it. Her voice, especially on the high notes, I am sorry to say, is like mine: even though she can hit the correct pitch, she lacks tone and quality, especially when she is concentrating on that cute-sy style instead of on opening her throat for the notes. The rest of the band, especially the instruments and the men’s voices, sound really wonderful.

Sorry to sound so mean, but you asked for my honest opinion. I hope your friend isn’t the soprano.

See you soon,
13D