03 December 2024: Chris Squire's Swiss Choir; California Guitar Trio; Markus Reuter

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From Wikipedia:

Chris Squire's Swiss Choir is the second and final solo album by Chris Squire. An album of traditional Christmas music, it was released in 2007 and includes former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, future King Crimson drummer and keyboardist Jeremy Stacey and the English Baroque Choir.

All tracks were arranged by Chris Squire and Gerard Johnson

Review by lazland
PROG REVIEWER

Whilst browsing the site, I was surprised to see this LP hasn't been rated.

It is not a true prog album, but it is a fine musical treat, especially at Christmas time. I had it brought for me at 2007 Christmas, and we all enjoyed listening. The album certainly highlights what a fine vocalist Squire is in his own right - Run With The Fox (easily the most recognisable prog track) is fantastic and has attracted quite a bit of UK radio airplay.

The album does what it says on the tin - a collection of mainly Christmas songs arranged, with a distinct rock twist, with Swiss Choral choirs, except there is no Swiss choral choir on it!

Steve Hackett is the most recognisable and distinct guest on the album, and I can't wait for their next promised collaboration.

You will likely only get this LP out at Christmas, aside from Run With The Fox, but you will be rewarded with an enjoyable collection of songs and arrangements from one of the finest musicians of his or any other generation.

Fun! 

 California Guitar Trio - 10 Christmas Songs

AllMusic Review by Glenn Astarita

Not that there is an abundance of progressive rock-tinged acoustic guitar trios among the ranks, but this aggregation stands tall among its peers as the guitarists' inventiveness surges forward with this altogether warmhearted reckoning of Christmas carols and other pleasantries. The guitarists' nimble yet at times forceful approach is wholly evident during their highly rhythmic spin on "Jingle Bells." They perform the classic "Greensleeves" with a sensitive, chamber-like approach while also tackling the Lennon/Ono favorite "Happy X-Mas (War Is Over)." However, part of the magic resides within the trio's ability to delve into the inherent frameworks of each song, while also reformulating themes and rhythms into personalized statements. Essentially, the artists have produced a rather poignant Christmas outing, awash with interweaving lines and lilting harmonies, as they complement their superior artisanship and forward-thinking deployments with a cheerfully rendered collection of holiday favorites.

Winter Solstice EP from Markus Reuter:  Soundscape versions of traditional songs usually associated with this time of year, at least here in Germany. In addition to the meditative soundscapes (which are based on the series of pitches of each tune) I've also overdubbed straight versions of the original melodies. Enjoy this parallel universe... It's strangely hypnotizing. Only available from December 1st to December 31st.

 

5.1 surround mix available here:
surroundmusic.one/album/winter-solstice/

credits

released December 17, 2018

christmas jul merry natale noel weihnachten weihnachtslied yule yuletide Berlin

13 December 2022: Holiday Special #2: A Jethro Tull Christmas

 

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 Tuesday, December 13, we continue our series of three very special FreeForm Holiday Shows.

The Jethro Tull Christmas Album is the 21st studio album released by Jethro Tull, on 30 September 2003 (see 2003 in music). The songs are a mix of new material, re-recordings of Tull's own suitably themed material and arrangements of traditional Christmas music. In 2009, the live album Christmas at St Bride's 2008 was included with the original album on CD.
Ian Anderson about the song Birthday Card at Christmas: "My daughter Gael, like millions of other unfortunates, celebrates her birthday within a gnat’s whisker of Christmas. Overshadowed by the Great Occasion, such birthdays can be flat, perfunctory and fleetingly token in their uneventful passing. The daunting party and festive celebration of the Christian calendar overshadows too, some might argue, the humble birthday of one Mr. J. Christ. Funny old 25ths, Decembers…"

Track listing

1. "Birthday Card at Christmas" (Ian Anderson) – 3:37
2. "Holly Herald" (Instrumental medley arranged by Anderson) – 4:16
3. "A Christmas Song" (Anderson) – 2:47
4. "Another Christmas Song" (Anderson) – 3:31
5. "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" (Trad. instrumental arranged by Anderson) – 4:35
6. "Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow" (Anderson) – 3:37
7. "Last Man at the Party" (Anderson) – 4:48
8. "Weathercock" (Anderson) – 4:17
9. "Pavane" (Instrumental, Gabriel Fauré, arranged by Anderson) – 4:19
10. "First Snow on Brooklyn" (Anderson) – 4:57
11. "Greensleeved" (Trad. instrumental based on "Greensleeves". Arranged by Anderson) – 2:39
12. "Fire at Midnight" (Anderson) – 2:26
13. "We Five Kings" (Instrumental) (Instrumental "We Three Kings", Rev. J. Hopkins, arranged by Anderson) – 3:16
14. "Ring Out Solstice Bells" (Anderson) – 4:04
15. "Bourée" (Instrumental J. S. Bach, arranged by Anderson) – 4:25
16. "A Winter Snowscape" (Instrumental, Martin Barre) – 4:57

Tracks 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 14, and 15 are all re-recordings of previously released pieces. 'Bourée', however, has significant alterations to the musical arrangement.

Christmas at St Bride's 2008

Recorded Live at St Bride's Church

1. "Weathercock" (Ian Anderson) – 4:41
2. "Introduction: Rev. George Pitcher / Choir: What Cheer" (William Walton) – 3:32
3. "A Christmas Song" (Anderson) – 3:19
4. "Living in These Hard Times" (Anderson) – 3:44
5. "Choir: Silent Night" (Traditional) – 3:06
6. "Reading: Ian Anderson, Marmion" (Sir Walter Scott) – 2:17
7. "Jack in the Green" (Anderson) – 2:33
8. "Another Christmas Song" (Anderson) – 3:56
9. "Reading: Gavin Esler, God's Grandeur" (Gerard Manley Hopkins) – 1:50
10. "Choir: Oh, Come All Ye Faithful" (Traditional) – 3:50
11. "Reading: Mark Billingham, The Ballad of The Breadman" (Charles Causley) – 3:33
12. "A Winter Snowscape" (Martin Barre) – 3:39
13. "Reading: Andrew Lincoln, Christmas" (Sir John Betjeman) – 3:12
14. "Fires at Midnight" (Anderson) – 3:38
15. "We Five Kings" (Instrumental "We Three Kings", Rev. J. Hopkins, arranged by Anderson) – 3:19
16. "Choir: Gaudete" (Trad. arranged by Anderson) – 3:39
17. "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen / Thick as a Brick" (Trad. arranged by Anderson / Anderson) – 10:25

Personnel

Jethro Tull

• Ian Anderson – flute, vocals, acoustic guitars, mandolin, piccolo, percussion
• Martin Barre – electric and acoustic guitars
• Andrew Giddings – keyboards, accordion and keyboard bass
• Jonathan Noyce – bass guitar
• Doane Perry – drums and percussion

Additional personnel

• James Duncan – drums and percussion
• Dave Pegg – bass, mandolin
• The Sturcz String Quartet:

• Gábor Csonka – 1st violin
• Péter Szilágyi – 2nd violin
• Gyula Benkő – viola
• András Sturcz – cello (leader)

 

07 December 2021: An Ambient Winter Evening with Markus Reuter and Cousin Silas

 

Note that tonight's show may begin later than 9 pm Alaska Time due to the live broadcast of a public meeting here in Kodiak.  FreeForm will begin immediately after the meeting if it runs past 9 pm. 

Be sure to follow KMXT FreeForm Radio on Facebook and Bandcamp.  

Please support FreeForm Radio and KMXT by going to KMXT.org and pledging your support.

The music you hear on tonight's show is available on the artists' Bandcamp pages (links below) and makes a great gift for the holidays as well as brightening the musicians' holidays.  

 

Markus Reuter Winter Solstice

Bizarre soundscape versions of traditional songs usually associated with this time of year, at least here in Germany. In addition to the meditative soundscapes (which are based on the series of pitches of each tune) I've also overdubbed straight versions of the original melodies. Enjoy this parallel universe... It's strangely hypnotizing. Only available from December 1st to December 31st.

 

5.1 surround mix available here:
surroundmusic.one/album/winter-solstice/

credits

released December 17, 2018

1. Silent (Night) / Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht
2. Chorus of Youths / Tochter Zion
3. Snow (Children Song) / Leise rieselt der Schnee
4. Joy / In Dulci Jubilo
5. Night (Silent) / Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht

 

christmas jul merry natale noel weihnachten weihnachtslied yule yuletide Berlin

 

Cousin Silas - Variations on a Theme of Winter

There are many things that 'inspire' the music I do, but perhaps one of the most endearing is Winter. Apart from the usual cliches of transformation, and the memory echoes from childhood with its association with Christmas. It's also the way in which, at night, sounds are strangely muffled, morphed almost and how the landscape glitters and glows as though we have two full moons.
I guess all that sounds a little pretentious, but as I say, I do have a rather abiding passion for Winter.

My thanks to Thomas Mathie for the cover/artwork.

credits

released November 16, 2020

Cover/Artwork by Thomas Mathie 

 

ambient electronic experimental guitar sound alchemy soundscapes thomas mathie cousin silas United Kingdom