Holiday CD Suggestions

[Scott Tichenor]

Like to see everyone's suggestions for favorite mandolin CDs featuring holiday music. Let's help out our favorite artists and get some great music to boot! Here are some of my favorites:

Evergreen, by Butch Baldassari. This has been out for years and is probably the most popular and widely sold mandolin Christmas CD on the planet. Had our for years. Available at
Butch's web site

[Scott Tichenor]

Check out the holiday page at Acoustic Disc which includes some great seasonal and new releases. David Grisman's Acoustic Christmas is a real swinger!

Modern Mandolin Quartet: Nutcracker Suite. Highly recommended

Of late: Emory Lester's Christmas Carols.

Will add more later this a.m. Lots of good ones still not included.

[bluegrassjack2]

I like one called "Christmas in The Mountains".
Has various artists on it and is pretty traditional BG Christmas music.
Artists are - Wildwood Valley Boys, Ralph Stanley, Country Gentlemen, Bill Carroll, Paul Williams, Lost and Found, Larry Sparks. Great CD put out by Rebel.

[swampstomper]

The latest County Sales newsletter (here)
has a long list of BG Xmas favourites, as well as great gift ideas (especially box sets, DVDs and books -- plenty of Mon here).

[Django Fret]

I'd like to add "The Sounding Joy" by Marilyn Mair

http://www.marilynnmair.com/cd_sounding.shtml

and "Gifts" by the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble:

http://www.nashvilleconfidential.com/confide....ea.html

to the list.

[AlanN]

No mando in sight, but Hipster's Holiday is...well..hip! Has Satchmo doing "Cool Yule", Peggy Lee on "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", the dark jazz number "Blue Xmas".

[Keith Miller]

Im told that " Christmas " by the new mandolin quartet is good, have not heard it yet though !

[AlanN]

Someone mentioned 'Gifts' by the NME. Certainly a good project, and has a wonderful 'Sleigh Ride'. The take-off mando solos are killer, by Aubrey Haynie and Richard Kriehn. Our own Santa Claus John McGann did a wonderful job of transcribing for me the nuances in those solos.

[jaco]

Any of the Windham Hill Winter Solstice CDs. Not entirely mando but cuts with Mike Marshall and Darol Anger.

[Fred Keller]

The CD is called "The Goose Is Getting Fat" by Dakota Dave Hull and mandolinist Kari Larson. Order at http://www.dakotadavehull.com/. It's an all-instrumental album and some of the instruments used are amazing.

[mandopete]

Okay, here's mine...

My favorite would have to be <span style='color:red'>Yule Ties</span> by Loose Ties.

You can find it on Ben Winship's web site at www.benwinship.com.

[Mike Crocker]

Simon Mayor's Winter With Mandolins. The guy knows how to make it all sound like fun. Mooh.

[J. Mark Lane]

I have most of these, and love them all. But my all-time favorite remains The Roches "We Three Kings." For years, the Roches used to do a Christmas show at The Bottom Line in NYC, and I went year after year. It was like "family." Great performances, great surprise guests, etc. They don't do that any more, sadly. But the CD is still great. Get one!

http://www.roches.com/promo/therocheswaht.html

[Ted Eschliman]

I know the topic was intended to be mandolin CDs, but before I saw the light and picked up the mandolin 8 years ago, I used to do some jingle production. Sounds are a little dated, but the price is right; I've put my 1991 Christmas project up on the web as MP3s. Download and dipense all you want:
An Urban Christmas.

[MDW]

The Gypsy Hombres "Django Bells" - great improvisation over Christmas favorites in the style of Django Reinhardt. Listen at http://www.gypsyhombres.com/music.htm - you won't regret it.

Mark

[mandopete]

<span style='color:red'>Warning:</span> No Mando Content!

Just sitting here listening to this one and waiting for the Charlie Brown special to come on T.V.

This is my all-time favorite Christmas CD!

[Dfyngravity]

A Very Special Acoustic Christmas

Can't get too much better than Dan Tyminski singing Frosty the Snowman!!!

[Django Fret]

"Oy to the World" by the Klezmonauts is worth checking out if you are looking for something a little different this holiday season.

http://www.oytotheworld.com/

You will probably never hear anything quite like the full versions of "Little Drummer Boy", "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", or "Away in a Manger".

Several of the songs on the CD also have mandolin on them.

[mandocrucian]

Jethro Tull Christmas Album

[PlayerOf8]

KISS LIVE
( it was recorded during the holidays)

[Jim MacDaniel]

Anyone familiar with An American Christmas, and all instrumental CD featuring Norman Blake, Vassar Clements, Ronnie McCoury, and others? I am on the verge of ordering it, since I figure I can't go wrong with that line-up, but has anyone out there listened to it?

[Jim MacDaniel]

"Oy to the World" by the Klezmonauts is worth checking out if you are looking for something a little different this holiday season.

http://www.oytotheworld.com/

You will probably never hear anything quite like the full versions of "Little Drummer Boy", "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", or "Away in a Manger".

Several of the songs on the CD also have mandolin on them.

I love, love, love that CD! (Interesting that my favorite Xmas CD is by a Klezmer band.)

[Jim MacDaniel]

Here is a new candidate for my favorite Xmas CD: "A Mandolin for Christmas", by Evan Marshall. This looks to be a brand new release, and its samples at CDBaby sound incredible. It's all solo mandolin brilliantly performed by Mr. Marshall, and I just ordered it in time for the holidays. (BTW, it looks like he also recently released a non-Holiday CD, also at CDBaby, entited "Mr. Solo Mandolin", which at first listen appears to be equally superb.)

[Jim Murton]

Bela Fleck And The Flecktones. Jingle all the way. It was just released,and it covers all the holidays not just Christmas.It does have a real interesting 12 days of Christmas.

Check it out,

Jim

[allenhopkins]

No mandolin content, but Mitzie Collins' Sampler Records here in Rochester has released three very nice Christmas instrumental albums, Ornaments, Nowell, and Rejoice. Mitzie on hammered dulcimer, with flute, harp, and other instruments. You can check them out here.

Also, I'm on a 3-CD Christmas compilation album called Tramper's Dynamic Christmas, with about 100 or more other Rochester musicians. Part of the proceeds go to our local Humane Society. There's more info at the Dynamic Records website.