Carla's Christmas Carols

Studio album by Carla Bley, Steve Swallow and the Partyka Brass Quintet

Released

November 3, 2009

Recorded

December 4–9, 2008

Carla Bley chronology

The Lost Chords find Paolo Fresu
(2007)

Carla's Christmas Carols
(2008)

Trios
(2013)

Carla's Christmas Carols is an album of Christmas carols arranged by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley with bassist Steve Swallow and the Partyka Brass Quintet recorded in France in 2008 and released on the Watt/ECM label in 2009.^[1]

Reception

The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4 stars and stated "While the argument that there should be a moratorium on Christmas recordings is a good one in the 21st century, Carla's Christmas Carols provides a powerful counter to that view. She has added so much to these songs without taking away any of the warmth, joy, and nostalgia inherent to the season or their place in it".^[2]

The All About Jazz review by John Kelman said that "Most Christmas albums are only good for a limited time each year. The songs Bley has chosen may have such iconic significance as to be tied to a specific time of year, but the arrangements and playing are so good that Carla's Christmas Carols transcends the season for which it's intended; an album that will also bring more than a little welcome cool to the heat of the summer."^[3]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[2]

Track listing

"O Tannenbaum" (Traditional) - 2:30
"Away in a Manger" (James R. Murray) - 5:54
"The Christmas Song" (Mel Torme, Bob Wells) - 5:15
"Ring Christmas Bells" (Mykola Leontovych) - 5:49
"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Part 1" (Traditional) - 4:47
"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Part 2" (Traditional) - 5:19
"It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" (Richard Storrs Willis, Edmund Sears) - 4:57
"Hell's Bells" (Carla Bley) - 5:13
"Jesus Maria" (Bley) - 8:33
"Jingle Bells" (James Pierpont) - 3:06
"O Holy Night" (Adolphe Adam, Placide Cappeau) - 7:29
"Joy to the World" (Lowell Mason, Isaac Watts) - 1:38

Recorded at La Buissonne Studios, Avingon, France on December 4–9, 2008.

Personnel

Carla Bley - piano, celeste
Steve Swallow - bass guitar, chimes
Tobias Weidinger - trumpet, flugelhorn, glockenspiel
Axel Schlosser - trumpet, flugelhorn, chimes
Christine Chapman - horn
Adrian Mears - trombone
Ed Partyka - bass trombone, tuba

References

↑ ECM Catalogue accessed August 12, 2010
1 2 Jurek, T. Allmusic Review accessed August 12, 2010
↑ Kelman, J. Carla's Christmas Carols Review All About Jazz, October 27, 2009

Carla Bley

Studio albums	Tropic Appetites (1974) Dinner Music (1977) European Tour 1977 (1978) Musique Mecanique (1979) Social Studies (1981) Live! (1982) I Hate to Sing (1984) Heavy Heart (1984) Sextet (1987) Fleur Carnivore (1989) The Very Big Carla Bley Band (1991) Big Band Theory (1993) The Carla Bley Big Band Goes to Church (1996) Fancy Chamber Music (1998) 4 x 4 (2000) Looking for America (2003) The Lost Chords (2004) The Lost Chords find Paolo Fresu (2007) Appearing Nightly (2008) Carla's Christmas Carols (2009) Trios (2013)

With Gary Burton	A Genuine Tong Funeral (1967)

With Jazz Composer's Orchestra	The Jazz Composer's Orchestra (1968) Escalator over the Hill (1968-71) Relativity Suite (1973)

With Michael Mantler	Jazz Realities (1966)

With Charlie Haden	Liberation Music Orchestra (1969) The Ballad of the Fallen (1983) Dream Keeper (1990) Not in Our Name (2005)

With Nick Mason	Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports (1979)

With Steve Swallow	Night-Glo (1985) Duets (1988) Go Together (1992) Songs with Legs (1994) Are We There Yet? (1999)

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