Archive for the ‘Holiday’ Category

The Christmas season has officially arrived and what a special time of year ! While I believe most site visitors realize the true meaning of Christmas and the real reason we celebrate this special day in the highest regard, our time honored tradition of gift giving continues which naturally raises the question of what makes a suitable gift for our friends or loved ones.

Lisa Downing from Littleton Colorado is a musician with a promising answer on what makes not only a suitable gift, but a personalized one most people would enjoy receiving and a gift most likely to renew their true reason for the season Christmas spirit like her CD album did for me. Actually, when you take into consideration every aspect of purchasing the relatively inexpensive and long lasting gift of music for nearly every gift occasion, this easy to make decision translates into a logical choice.

Lisa Downing’s Solo Piano album titled Christmas for Two may be of interest to you and while there are many exceptional Christmas albums in the New Age genre along with every musical taste from popular artists, Lisa Downing truly does have a special gift herself as a top solo pianist in every sense of the word and this is precisely articulated on her Holiday music release. Plus, knowing Lisa was a youth pastor at her church in Littleton earlier in life and performed in the Christian, Folk, Pop-Rock band named Wings of Faith, you know that Lisa’s heart is in the right place.

Her lifelong commitment as a professional musician are praiseworthy too since Lisa Downing earned a university degree in music, attending both the University of Colorado at Denver and Metropolitan State College, receiving a joint specialized BA degree in Traditional and Non-Traditional Music with keyboard emphasis. Lisa is also an esteemed concert pianist having toured or performed with other renowned artists like David Lanz, Suzanne Ciani, Liz Story, and Peter Kater.

Christmas for Two on her Vision Quest Entertainment label is a Solo Piano Christmas album cordially personifying Lisa Downing’s expressive talents in several ways, plus the 12 holiday tracks are perfect in the sense they reveal traditional holiday music in her skillful expressive touch like you would hear while attending one of her highly personalized concerts.

While Christmas for Two is considered New Age / Neo Classical, I trust any label is of less regard here since every piece chosen for the album will be identifiable and appreciated by everyone like The First Noel / Joy to the World.

You will notice her Holiday release is composed with a delicate balance by the companion format where two songs are united into one like heard on All through the Night / Away in a Manger so there are actually 22 titles in all with the single song exceptions of Silent Night, Canon in D Christmas Medley, and Angels We Have Heard On High.

The traditional holiday pieces What Child Is This / We Three Kings and then O Holy Night / It Came Upon a Midnight Clear were my 2 favorites, plus I found the richness in depth and quality intonation regarding her performance on a Yamaha C7 Acoustic Piano was proficient in entirety like I had expected.

Every song on Christmas for Two is delivered with precision and Lisa’s personal creativity shines by the unique manner in which the songs were impeccably composed into one, with treble and bass notes reaching many proficient runs and chords in all ranges along the keyboard.

Christmas for Two varies from soft and contemplative at moments to spirited phrasing with majestic crescendos like her amazing version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / Carol of the Bells which give new meaning to the term Holiday music.

Now that you know I believe simply listening to Holiday music will help renew the Christmas spirit for anyone like it did for me, and where to search for Christmas Piano Solo music that brilliantly succeeds in establishing the seasonal tone, I hope to have been of some assistance today. I trust everyone will have an especially joyful Christmas this year while recognizing the greatest gift of all and true reason we celebrate the season.

Visit lisadowning.com to sample / purchase. You can also visit her CDBaby.com page or Amazon.com page and read my review of A Delicate Balance on our pages dedicated to Lisa Downing. Lisa and her husband Pete Foster own a combined talent agency and record label representing over 1200 Colorado musicians so find out more at visionquestmusic.com.

Album art courtesy NW Media. Photo courtesy Russell Smoak – The Inner Image.

A reader asked me what my favorite Christmas album was – and the question caught me a little off guard since I have plenty of Christmas favorites… But if I were to choose one, just one album, it must be Jillian Goldin Aversa’s Christmas EP from last year, called Through Sand and Snow. It is like a musical journey with traditional Christmas songs as the guiding star. At the end of the travel is the perfect Christmas spirit.

The holiday EP opens with the 1 minute long Prelude. The ‘walking through snow’ sound, the eerie synth and Jillian’s ethereal voice is a nice build up to the second track: John Jacob Niles’ classic I Wonder as I Wander. Most versions of this song tend to be too sacral or too serious if you will. But the light and rolling drumbeat, which I guess is only a mixed sidestick sample, is marvelous. Jillian’s positive voice gives a new perspective to the usual melancholy of this popular Christmas carol.

The next track is What Child Is This, or Greensleeves. The arrangement is gentle and tasteful. Jillian’s breathing marks the rhythm, which is a nice effect. Both this track and the next, God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen, are traditional and could easily been included in any collection of Christmas music. It is a high quality production with a general appeal: you don’t have to like new age music to enjoy these tracks.

With Walking in the Air the EP takes a small break from religion. I am used to hear the song sung by a young boy in the animated film The Snowman, but Jillian does a great job. The bell synth gives the song a magical atmosphere, and the different layers of vocal intertwine beautifully.

Silent Night is a perfect album closer. Jillian’s version is long, dreamy and simply irresistible. It starts with a warm sounding synth pad and a distant piano in the background. The different layers of sound create a total listening experience, almost like listening to heavenly hosts sing Alleluia! The EP ends with 30 seconds of cozy log fire sounds.

The cover artwork is by Daniel Kvasznicza. It captures the atmosphere of the songs. Here you can see Jillian walking through a desert landscape of either sand or snow, it is hard to tell. But it sure is beautiful. A piece of art.

Through Sand and Snow is a quite different Christmas album. It is just such an album you want to put on when you have looked through your 100+ Christmas albums and found nothing to listen to. It is heartfelt and beautiful, without any of the usual Christmas glitter. And that is for me that is a big thing.

You can sample and buy the album on CDBaby.

We had the pleasure of interviewing Jillian Goldin Aversa about this album last year.

As the holiday season is officially in full swing, new age music star Peter Buffett has just launched a digital advent calendar. Paying homage to traditional advent calendars of the past, this calendar will unveil a surprise behind each door in addition to a tip for giving back during the holiday season.

Behind Peter’s 24 doors fans can find tracks from his beautiful New Age holiday album, Star of Wonder, festive vlogs, and a first look at excerpts from his upcoming book, Life is What You Make It.  Given Peter’s philanthropic nature, he felt it was important to have every door reveal suggestions for simple actions fans can take to help make a difference and benefit others during this time of year.

To refresh your memory, Star of Wonder is a masterfully produced holiday album, featuring acclaimed Celtic vocalist, Kim Robertson. The calendar’s wintery landscape artwork was designed by Pennsylvania-based folk artist, Jessica Wasilewski.

We here at .nu hold this to be one of the fines Christmas new age music titles released. So please do enjoy the calendar, which you can find here