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Big Band Holidays

Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Blue Engine Records celebrates the most wonderful time of the year with the release of Big Band Holidays, a compilation of holiday classics performed live by the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. Special guests on Big Band Holidays are some of today’s commanding new voices in jazz: René Marie, Gregory Porter and Cécile McLorin Salvant.

Every December for more than a decade, the critically acclaimed Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and an all-star roster of guest vocalists have explored the canon of holiday standards to perform new and traditional arrangements of Yuletide favorites. These Big Band Holidays concerts have become a seasonal tradition among jazz lovers and families. Blue Engine Records has assembled highlights from these historical performances to make them available on record for the first time.

Big Band Holidays

Album Info

Ensemble JLCO with Wynton Marsalis
Release Date October 30th, 2015
Recording Date December 7-8, 2012 - December 12-13, 2013
Record Label Blue Engine Records
Catalogue Number BE0003
Formats CD, Digital Download, LP
Genre Jazz at Lincoln Center Recordings
Digital Booklet Download (pdf, 3 MB)

Track Listing

Track Length Preview
Jingle Bells 2:19 Play
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – featuring Cécile McLorin Salvant 6:28 Play
White Christmas 5:16 Play
‘Zat You Santa Claus? – featuring René Marie 6:14 Play
A Cradle in Bethlehem – featuring Gregory Porter 5:37 Play
We Three Kings 6:19 Play
What Child Is This? – featuring Cécile McLorin Salvant 8:00 Play
Merry Christmas Baby – featuring Gregory Porter 4:55 Play
It’s Easy to Blame the Weather – featuring Cécile McLorin Salvant 4:41 Play
I’ll Be Home for Christmas – featuring René Marie 4:55 Play
Good Morning Blues – featuring Cécile McLorin Salvant 5:35 Play
Band Introductions 1:11 Play

Liner Notes

1. Jingle Bells (2:17)
Composed by James Lord Pierpont/Public Domain
Arranged by Ernie Wilkins/Jonathan Lawrence (ASCAP)
Soloists: Walter Blanding (tenor saxophone)

2. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (6:26)
Composed by Hugh Martin & Ralph Blane/EMI Feist Catalog Inc., c/o Sony/ATV Music Publishing (ASCAP)
Arranged by Victor Goines/ROMJOS Music LLC (ASCAP)
Soloists: Cécile McLorin Salvant (vocals), James Chirillo (guitar)

3. White Christmas (5:15)
Composed by Irving Berlin/Irving Berlin Music Corp., c/o Williamson Music Co. (ASCAP)
Arranged by Victor Goines/ROMJOS Music LLC (ASCAP)
Soloists: Ted Nash (soprano saxophone), Dan Nimmer (piano)

4. ’Zat You, Santa Claus? (6:12)
Composed by Jack Fox/Broude Brothers Limited (ASCAP)
Arranged by Victor Goines/ROMJOS Music LLC (ASCAP)
Soloists: René Marie (vocals), Marcus Printup (trumpet), ShermanIrby (altosaxophone), Chris Crenshaw (trombone), Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Ted Nash (alto saxophone), Walter Blanding (tenor saxophone)

5. A Cradle in Bethlehem (5:35)
Composed by Alfred Bryan & Larry Stock/Larry Stock Music Co. & Sony ATV Tunes LLC (ASCAP)
Arranged by Chris Crenshaw/BLVD Music (BMI)
Soloists: Gregory Porter (vocals), Vincent Gardner (trombone), Walter Blanding (oboe)

6. We Three Kings (6:18)
Composed by John Henry Hopkins, Jr./Public Domain
Arranged by Ted Nash/TNASH Music (SESAC)
Soloists: Ted Nash (soprano saxophone), Dan Nimmer (piano)

7. What Child Is This? (7:59)
Traditional, Lyrics by William Chatterton Dix/ Public Domain
Arranged by Vincent Gardner/Muttbone Music (SESAC)
Soloists: Cécile McLorin Salvant (vocals), Dan Nimmer (piano)

8. Merry Christmas Baby (4:53)
Composed by Johnny Dudley Moore and Buddy Baxter/Anne Rachel Music Corp. c/o Warner/Chappell Music Inc. (ASCAP)
Arranged by Sherman Irby/Sherman Irby Publishing (BMI)
Soloists: Gregory Porter (vocals), Sherman Irby (alto saxophone)

9. It’s Easy to Blame the Weather (4:40)
Composed by Sammy Cahn & Saul Chaplin/Cahn Music Co., c/o Imagem Sounds & EMI Miller Catalog Inc., c/o Sony/ATV Music Publishing Ltd. (ASCAP)
Arranged by Sherman Irby/Sherman Irby Publishing (BMI)
Soloists: Cécile McLorin Salvant (vocals), Sherman Irby (alto saxophone)

10. I’ll Be Home for Christmas (4:54)
Composed by James “Kim” Gannon, Walter Kent & Buck Ram/Gannon and Kent Music Co. & Piedmont Music Company (ASCAP)
Arranged by Richard De Rosa/Richard De Rosa Music (BMI)
Soloists: René Marie (vocals), Marcus Printup (trumpet)

11. Good Morning Blues (5:35)
Composed by Eddie Durham, William Count Basie & James Andrew Rushing/Eddie Durham Swing Music Publishing, c/o BMG Gold Songs, BMG Rights Management US LLC & WB Music Corp., c/o Warner Chappell Music Inc. (ASCAP)
Arranged by Eddie Durham/Eddie Durham Swing Music Publishing
Soloists: Cécile McLorin Salvant (vocals), Kenny Rampton (trumpet), Dan Nimmer (piano), Ryan Kisor (trumpet), James Chirillo (guitar)

12. Band Introductions (1:11)

Credits

Merry Christmas Baby
(Recorded live at Rose Theater (New York) on Friday, December 7th, 2012)

Jingle Bells, ’Zat You, Santa Claus?, A Cradle in Bethlehem, I’ll Be Home for Christmas
(Recorded live at Rose Theater (New York) on Saturday, December 8th, 2012)

Good Morning Blues
(Recorded live at Rose Theater (New York) on Thursday, December 12th, 2013)

White Christmas, We Three Kings, What Child Is This?, It’s Easy to Blame the Weather
(Recorded live at Rose Theater (New York) on Friday, December 13th, 2013)

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
(Recorded live at Rose Theater (New York) on Saturday, December 20th, 2014)

Cécile McLorin Salvant appears courtesy of Mack Avenue Records
Gregory Porter appears courtesy of Universal France
René Marie appears courtesy of Motema Music

Executive Producer: Wynton Marsalis
Sound Engineer: David Robinson
Recording Engineer: James Nichols
Mixed by: Todd Whitelock
Mastered by: Mark Wilder at Battery Studios, NYC 2015
Photography: Frank Stewart
A&R Coordinator: Michael Mwenso
Design: Maya Sariahmed & James Thigpen Jr.
Product Manager: Valerie Florville

Personnel