Even though Christmas has already passed, one of our favorite traditions is to buy a Christmas album or two after Christmas, put them away unwrapped with all of the Christmas decorations, and then find new music ready to go next year. A few last Christmas album reviews this week may help you put away the right albums for Christmas 2009.
Of the expansive body of work from Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, the jazzy, banjo-led combo that breaks the traditional jazz mold, I especially enjoyed 2000’s Outbound with its subway cover invoking the feel of the music’s ability to speed you along a rocking track. With this in mind, I was thrilled to see that Fleck had released a Christmas album this year, Jingle All the Way.
The textures and rhythms ebb and flow on this set of traditional favorites, making the simplest and most unremarkable holiday tunes sparkle with energy, vibrancy, and innovation. Each day/gift of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” comes with its own style, but rather than sounding like a band stretching to be clever, Fleck & the Flecktones meld those styles together into a seamless flow, each style letting each day/gift emerge in musical picture form while retaining a cohesive song. This ain’t no relaxing one-horse open sleigh for “Sleigh Ride” here; this is a large horse team racing through the icy hills, bounding in cartoon-like style around each bend, and running to the finish line like Stephen Foster’s “Camptown Races.”
It’s no surprise that jazz artist Vince Guaraldi’s Peanuts songs, “Christmas Time is Here” and “Linus and Lucy,” would receive another good jazz turn here. They rise up from the original flow of Guaraldi’s piano to the mountain feel of Fleck’s banjo, giving the Peanuts gang a different background but still that same peace and joy their Christmas television specials always bring.
Unfortunately, while Jingle All the Way could liven up your Christmas party atmosphere, you may want to set it the album up to skip a couple of tracks. As much as I applaud innovation, “Jingle Bells” appears twice both with the help of the Tuvan throat singing of the Alash Ensemble. These two versions make “Jingle Bells” ring with a world music flair for certain, but amid the rest of the album—and to many ears at our Christmas parties in the West—the Tuvan throat singing is a bit too much of a shock. It breaks up the feel of the rest of the album. Perhaps this is exasperated by the choice of “Jingle Bells” which can easily take on a campy feel no matter who is singing it.
However, the hymn “What Child is This” is coupled with the Tuvan “Dyngyldai” for optimal effect. The haunt and wonder of both songs comes together in a rousing vamp to evoke the starry skies over Bethlehem, the fear that must have gripped the hearts of the shepherds, the amazement of Mary and Joseph at this thing that had happened, and the bells on the necks of the camels of the Wise Men traveling from afar. Here’s where the Alash Ensemble’s contribution is truly honored.
Bela Fleck & the Flecktones
Alash Ensemble
Rounder Records
