WVA Occasional 12/97
Holiday Guitar, Dan Crary
Sugar Hill Records, CD (14 selections)
Wow, what a Christmas find and just in time, too! Mr. Guitar, Dan Crary, says he's had a holiday album in mind for years and "at the beginning of this year I pulled a 'just do it!"' He says he took the musical challenge very seriously and felt that this is one of the most "refined and polished projects I've ever done."
There is a mixture of the "cold-wind-from-the-cosmos" holiday music with the ultimate crossover music that is holiday music only because "we say so - otherwise it's just interest-ing music that doesn't fall into the usual boxes." As a result, people listen to more musical variety during the holidays than any other time of year. And it comes in all the formats: Americana, Bluegrass, Classical, Country, Pop, and Smooth Jazz.
There's the usual stuff - "Silver Bells," "Holy Night," "The Little Drummer Boy," "Silent Night," "What Child is This," "Jesu Bambino," and so on. Then there's the not-so-usual fare like "Fum, Fum, Fum," a Spanish traditional carol, "Masters in this Hall," "Christmas Blues a-Comin'," and "Patapan", a French carol.
What also makes this album a treasure is the collection of musicians Dan gathered up to help him: Beppe Gambetta, Radim Zenkl, John Cephas, Phil Wiggins, Kay Jaffe, Michael Jaffe, and Billy Oskay.
This is top-of-the-line musicianship that makes even the familiar old holiday tunes sparkle. Your holiday season will be richer
with the addition of this recording to your collection.