🎧 AUDIO:
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🎥 VIDEO:

Listen + watch on YouTube or below

SIDE A

Clarinet (x5), Trumpet (x5), Trombone, Piano, Bass, Drums
Clarinet, Trumpet, Trombone, Piano, Bass, Drums
Clarinet, Piano, Bass, Drums
Piano, Bass, Drums
Clarinet (x4), Trombone, Piano, Bass, Drums

SIDE B

Clarinet, Trumpet, Trombone, Piano, Bass, Drums
Clarinet (x4), Trumpet, Piano, Bass, Drums
Piano, Bass, Drums
Piano, Bass, Drums
Clarinet, Trombone, Piano, Bass, Drums

Performers

About The Album

I recorded this album in October through November of 2021. Last year I made a Christmas album (Let Your Heart be Light), which was a trio album. I enjoyed playing Christmas music for that album, so I decided I would make another one this year, but this time I went bigger and more ambitious. This year I played clarinet (which I had been playing for two and a half years), trumpet (which I had been playing for a year), trombone (which I had been playing for three months).

Special thanks to my instructors, Keenan McKenzie, Julie Harris, Eliana Fishbeyn, Ed Paolantonio, Steve Anderson, and Andrew Lovett. Additionally, I would like to thank Yaakov Huba for teaching me how to mix, and Valen Moore, my brother, for teaching me how to edit video. Finally, thanks to my family for going through October and November hearing Christmas music daily.

I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm is a song by Irving Berlin. I combined my own arranging with the arrangement of Ella Fitzgerald's big band recording. This was my most ambitious track, in which I played a big band chart on my own. I played six brass parts and five clarinet parts, in addition to the rhythm section. This tune features clarinet as the "vocalist", as well as a piano. Run Rudolph Run, made popular by Chuck Berry, is a 12 bar blues. I combined the rock and roll feel of the Berry recording with the jazz that I'm more familiar with. This features clarinet, trumpet, and piano. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen is the first traditional song I played on this album. I played the melody on piano and clarinet, and it features a piano solo. O Little Town of Bethlehem is the other traditional carol that I played, and I did it as a piano trio. I played with a swinging samba feel inspired by Oscar Peterson. Jingle Bell Rock is a tune that was originally rock, but I played it as straight ahead jazz. I played the melody with a four part clarinet section. I switched to trombone for the bridge. This features a clarinet soli, a clarinet solo, and piano solo.

Mele Kalikimaka, although typically played as a relaxed Hawai'ian song, I played at breakneck speed. It features clarinet, trumpet, trombone, and piano. The Christmas Song is this album's ballad. I start with a solo piano intro, followed by a muted trumpet playing the melody with four clarinet parts playing backgrounds. This tune features a piano solo over double time feel. Winter Wonderland was my second piano trio tune. I played it as a calypso. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas is a song that I put over rhythm changes, a popular chord progression in jazz. Unlike the rest of the tunes on the album, I do not go back to the melody at the end, but instead build up to a piano shout section. This was my last piano trio tune of this album. Baby It's Cold Outside is the final song on the album. For the melody, I play the duet between clarinet and muted trombone. Without vocals, I found that this was the best way to have contrasting voices for the melody. This features a clarinet solo and piano solo.

Credits

Mixing: Ori Moore

Video editing: Ori Moore

Cover art: Ori Moore, Viji Sathy

Arranging: Ori Moore