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JFH Music Review


David Ian, Vintage Christmas Trio
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David Ian
Vintage Christmas Trio



Genre(s): Jazz / Christmas
Album length: 10 tracks: 33 minutes, 57 seconds
Street Date: September 15, 2017


READER RATING:   


Of the many genres in which Christmas music finds a special place, jazz seems like a particularly nostalgic corner. This is probably, in large part, thanks to the Vince Guaraldi Trio and A Charlie Brown Christmas. David Ian follows in that swinging tradition with his third holiday offering on Vintage Christmas Trio, joined by bassist Jon Estes and drummer Josh Hunt. This album captures the playful and upbeat nature of the season with 10 renditions of holiday favorites.

Ian's arrangements for "Deck the Halls" and "Joy to the World" make for a strong opening, reveling in the mirth both songs offer. "White Christmas" slows things down slightly but nimbly dances between the feelings of longing and optimism. "Good King Wenceslas" is one of the album's highlights, starting off like a straight-forward rendition before getting creative with the melody. "Up on the Housetop" stands out from the rest, given that it is not quite as popular as the others. Still, its presence on the album is a welcome one and carries on the playful spirit of this collection. "O Come All Ye Faithful" is a fitting closer and feels like Ian's subtle instruction to the listener on how to appreciate Christmas.

As far as the musicianship goes, this trio is top-notch. Ian shows off his creativity with every note and his band complements him well. They also get their moments to shine; Estes with a groovy bass solo on "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" and Hunt showing his adeptness at keeping time by switching rhythm on the "Silver Bells" chorus. Together, this trio keeps a consistent tone all the way through the album, which works for most of the songs. But with a song like "I Heard the Bells," should it be given a peppy treatment given its subject matter of wrestling with whether or not there is peace on earth? There are also rare moments when the arrangements don't work. The music feels too disjointed at times on "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," and "We Three Kings" doesn't accomplish anything memorable. These minor bumps aside, the rest of the renditions are well done.

What would have pushed this album up a couple notches were more songs that are lesser known or not as covered, like "Up on the Housetop." It also would have been interesting to see one or two original works by Ian. As good as Vintage Christmas Trio is, it could easily be lost among the myriad of other jazz covers of Christmas songs. In spite of this, if you are looking for a solid instrumental holiday album to play in the background at work or home, David Ian has what you need.

- Review date: 12/11/17, written by John Underdown of Jesusfreakhideout.com



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JFH Staff's Second Opinion




Three years ago, David Ian (aka David Ghazarian), of Superchick fame, teamed up with Peter Furler to make a fun and jazzy Christmas album outside of Furler's normal sound. Ian's compositions were light, but fun and enjoyable. Ian is now back with his third solo album of traditional Christmas instrumentals. Vintage Christmas Trio is another jazzy venture with simple compositions -- reminiscent of Vince Guaraldi's music in the background of the Charlie Brown holiday specials. That's not meant as a knock on Ian (the music from those specials is iconic), but more to hit home the point of "vintage" in the title. Everything about the album--from the artwork, to the music, and the title itself--screams 50s and 60s. Piano is Ian's instrument of choice, but the bass lines, simply brushed drums, and small highlights, like sleigh bells, are hard to beat. All of the songs are clearly articulable, even though there isn't a single word spoken or sung in the entire thirty-four minute run time. These are actually really nice backing tracks for someone wanting Christmas music to sing to, or for a family sing along. The album's setback is that, while it's a really enjoyable listen, it's not the typical Christmas music you're going to put on to get in the "holiday spirit." Instead, Vintage Christmas Trio is more for background music. Playing this album softly in the background during a Christmas party, or while wrapping presents is perfect, but it doesn't have the same effect if you're putting it on for traveling music.

It's not a mind-blowing release, but Vintage Christmas Trip brings a lot of nostalgia to mind and provides an enjoyable listening experience from front to back. If you're looking for a good instrumental Christmas album this season, or enjoy a jazzy listen from time to time, David Ian has exactly what you're looking for. His work as David Ian is quite a bit different than what he was doing as David Ghazarian, but I, for one, have really been enjoying his more jazz-centric ventures. This will be an album that I revisit most every year and I recommend to any fan of Christmas tunes to pick up. The songs are all traditional songs you know, but the jazz compositions give them a slightly different take and the instrumentals give you a little reprieve from the normal versions that are played in constant rotation during the holiday season. This one is definitely worth picking up for Christmas music fans. - Review date: 12/8/17, written by Michael Weaver

 

JFH Album Sampler
. Record Label: Prescott Records
. Album length: 10 tracks: 33 minutes, 57 seconds
. Street Date: September 15, 2017
. Buy It: iTunes
. Buy It: Amazon.com (CD)
. Buy It: AmazonMP3

  1. Deck the Halls (4:18)
  2. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear (3:50)
  3. Joy to the World (3:07)
  4. White Christmas (3:22)
  5. Good King Wenceslas (3:31)
  6. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (3:18)
  7. We Three Kings (3:08)
  8. Up on the Housetop (3:15)
  9. Silver Bells (3:28)
  10. O Come, All Ye Faithful (2:40)

 

 

 



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