Liz Says, “Have a Global Christmas!”
I know it’s no surprise here that I have eclectic tastes when it comes to music. But this is especially true when it comes to my Christmas music, because the only Christmas music we had in our house growing up was “Sing Along with Mitch [Miller]” and “Christmas with [Ray] Coniff.” A Christmas miracle did occur one year when my parents picked up Herb Alpert’s Christmas album, but for the most part, as a child, our Christmases were pretty white (and no, I ain’t talkin’ about the snow).
Which is why one of my very favorite Christmas CDs is “World Christmas.” With this fabulous CD, I can experience Christmas cheer from places all over the globe. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you EXACTLY where on the globe, because my one gripe with this CD is that it doesn’t identify the nationalities of its artists, and even iTunes isn’t helping me very much this morning. So you’re just going to have to trust me that there are lots of different languages, lots of different instruments, lots of different rhythms, lots of different beats. And every last one of them is magical.
Most of the selections are traditional tunes you’ve heard a million times before, but they’ve all been rearranged in ways that make them sound totally new. Papa Wembe gives “Angels We Have Heard on High” a lovely Brazilian flavor (at least, I think it’s Brazilian--I’m pretty sure that’s Portuguese he’s singing in). “We Three Kings” receives an exotic Middle-Eastern interpretation (appropriate, dontcha think?) from Bob Berg, Jim Beard and Arto Tunchboyacyan featuring Zakir Hussain. “Ave Maria” is lovely and ethereal by Deep Forest and Lokua Kanza. “The Twelve Days of Christmas” becomes bluesy and kind of Beatnik (and totally cool) under the influences of Mino Cinelu And Dianne Reeves. Joshua Redman (a fave of my husband’s) gives us a mellow, jazzy “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” John Scofield and the and the Wild Magnolias return to the gospel--and very powerful--roots of “Go Tell It on the Mountain.”
There are some wonderful tunes that are new to me, however, all of them nevertheless putting me well into the holiday spirit. “Boas Festas” by Gilberto Gil and Caetan Veloso with Elaine Elias (who is another favorite in our household) has a wonderful South American flavor. And Ruben Blades gives us a whole different “Jingle Bells” (“Cascabel” in this case), accompanied by Yomo Tor and the Boricua All Stars.
My favorite part of the CD, however, comes in a three-in-a-row mix of both old and new with “O Holy Night,” as interpreted by Angelique Kidjo, originally from Benin and now living in Paris, “Santa Claus,” by the Caribbean Jazz Project (yeah, I know that comes as a shocker), and “Natal” by Cesaria Evora, a native of Cape Verde. Gipsy Kings round up the collection in their usual energetic, pulse-pound, feet-tapping way with “Navidad.”
So pour yourself a glass of eggnog and spike it with the international flavor you prefer, put on “World Christmas,” then settle in for best Christmas vacation you’ll ever have. Merry Christmas/Feliz Navidad/Joyeux Noel/Feliz Natal/Gud Jul/Kala Christouyenna/Buone Feste Natalizie/Shinnen Omedeto/Naya Saal Mubarak Ho, Everybody!