$10.00
“The Grammy-nominated and Billboard Award Winning artist Irvin Mayfield’s first holiday album, A New Orleans Creole Christmas, is the gift that keeps on giving.” –Where Y’At
“A Creole Christmas is obviously a joyous time indeed and this CD will be a marvelous gift, first to yourself and then to all the jazz lovers, Christmas music lovers, and people who love New Orleans (whether they have been there or not) on your Christmas list.” –Seattle Post-Intelligencer
“Oh, when Saint Nick goes marchin’ in. Crescent City trumpeter and cultural ambassador Mayfield spices up traditional holiday fare with some second-line rhythms and freewheeling joy.” –Toronto Sun
“Irvin Mayfield’s A New Orleans Creole Christmas adds another flavor to the season’s musical menu as it second lines, swings, syncopates and celebrates the holiday. The music is so satisfying that if it wasn’t for the dominant Christmas theme, it would be listenable all year long.” –Louisiana Weekly
“A trombone growls its way into a bluesy “Silent Night.” A second-line beat carries “O Tannenbaum” through bantering trad-jazz horns. “Winter Wonderland” (a Mardi Gras mambo) and “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” (a gospel-chorded hymn) are piano-trumpet duets. “The Christmas Song” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” are chromatic late-night ballads. It’s exactly what might be expected of the historically aware New Orleans trumpeter Irvin Mayfield and his group. But they relax into each track, starting out working the concept and ending up playful.” –New York Times
The Grammy and Billboard award winning trumpeter and bandleader, Irvin Mayfield, debuts his first album of holiday music with A New Orleans Creole Christmas, a collection of timeless holiday classics reinterpreted by the widely-recorded cultural ambassador of New Orleans. With his 12th release on the New Orleans source for jazz, Basin Street Records, Mayfield demonstrates his maturity as a player and arranger with the handpicked small ensemble called The New Orleans Jazz Playhouse Revue. The album blends traditional-style playing on the upbeat rendition of “O Tannenbaum – O Christmas Tree” with soulful, gospel-inspired versions of “Silent Night” and “Winter Wonderland”, and melodic, modern jazz renditions of other favorites such as “The Christmas Song” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. Michael Watson graces the listener with his velvet singing voice on the Vince Guaraldi/Lee Mendelson classic, “Christmas Time is Here”.
A New Orleans Creole Christmas was recorded at Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Recording on a street famed as the origin of Jazz, the Grammy-winning artist continues his mission of placing Jazz at the center of American culture and advancing a time-honored tradition in a city known for its music.
A New Orleans Creole Christmas is sure to delight the serious jazz listener and families looking to enjoy a fresh take on their favorite Christmas melodies, as they spend time together this holiday season.
Accolades of Irvin Mayfield:
Irvin Mayfield is the New Orleans Cultural Ambassador, the youngest member (and only musician) of the National Council on the Arts (named by two presidents), a two-time Grammy nominee, a Grammy-Award-winner (Book One, 2010), a Billboard Music Award winner (Los Hombres Calientes, 2000), founder and artistic director of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, the first artistic director of jazz of the Minnesota Orchestra, and holder of an honorary doctorate from Dillard University among other honors and accolades.
Irvin Mayfield – Trumpet
Derek Douget – Tenor and Soprano Saxophones
Jason Marshall – Baritone Saxophone
Vincent Gardner – Trombone
John Chin – Piano
Peter Harris – Bass
Adonis Rose – Drums
Michael Watson – Vocals
Produced by Irvin Mayfield
Executive Producer: Mark Samuels
Recorded by David Farrell at Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse on August 28, 2013
Mixed and Mastered by Misha Kachkachishvili at Esplanade Studios on August 10, 2014
Graphic Design: Britton Stewart, Thinka
Production Coordinator: Diana Thornton, Crescent Music Services
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.