Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Nov 6, 2021 8:49:54 GMT -8
Grasshopper, I should not be surprised that your answer was so deep and insightful. But I am.
And here I thought it was just another Wonder of the World that some liberal artist didn't treat a sacred Christian thing as a punch line. But I never thought that the song itself might have been the transformative factor.
Surely it occurs to many that the song itself is a miracle...or at least a clear indication of Divine inspiration. And, again, on the Muppet Christmas album, Denver again does not treat this song like the butt of a joke.
I am humbled by it all.
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Post by kungfuzu on Nov 6, 2021 9:40:06 GMT -8
Master, please not to forget, I started singing when I was two or three years old. My cousins loved to ask me to sing, "Jesus Loves Me." I almost became a professional singer, thus I have a lot of experience with this. As I got older, I found some songs so touching that I could not get through them before choking up. It is likely music was man's first art. There is a reason for that.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Nov 6, 2021 10:39:39 GMT -8
Music cuts through a whole lot of gunk...if we but let it.
This is why it is so sad to see what blacks and others have done to music (since jazz and blues, anyway). Rap is anti-music. And most of pop music isn't souless, per se. It's anti-soul.
In fact, looking back, our parents and grandparents were probably right. There is the devil in some of that music. No one sheds a tear for techno, gangsta-rap, death metal, or even most of rock-and-roll.
To be touched by music in today's gutter culture is likely an increasingly specialized thing.
Still, I've got to give Denver (and his producers) credit for no schlocking out yet another Christmas album. Plenty of big names (I will not name names) have basically just showed up in the studio and added their voice to a profusion of perfunctory performances and artless production.
Another song that struck me as anything but perfunctory is George Jones' "Joy to the World." Of all places, my mother gave me this on cassette tape years ago. She had bought a new car and it didn't have a cassette player.
Granted, yours truly does not bleed country-and-western. But I think the arrangement of this song is very well done for its type.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Nov 6, 2021 11:30:12 GMT -8
This is a subjective opinion, but I don't think Frank Sinatra converted many into believers with his Christmas album. You listen to Denver do "Silent Night" and you might get the tingles.
But I do like Frank's Christmas albums nonetheless. However, his version of "Silent Night" is Frank crooning the song. Wonderfully done as contemporary adult pop. But the Christmas aspects seems sucked out of it.
Not so, in my opinion, his rendition of White Christmas. Perhaps he was more comfortable with secular songs. With "White Christmas" he certainly does not try to out-croon Der Bingle. Everyone had to mimic Bing's style back in the day, but Sinatra eventually found "his own voice" to use a catch-phrase.
What is remarkable to me about his rendition of "White Christmas" is that he's not doing Bing nor is he doing a sort of anti-Bing. The song is rich, full, and textured in a somewhat unique style. Frank's vocals are powerful but carefully subdued. And this fella sure do sound like he's dreaming of a White Christmas. "With every Christmas card I write" is a nice bit of phrasing.
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Post by kungfuzu on Nov 6, 2021 15:54:06 GMT -8
I would say that Frank's version is more casual than Bing's. Perhaps Bing is thinking of Father O'Malley when he sings the song.
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Nov 6, 2021 16:08:32 GMT -8
Yes. Causal. Nothing wrong with it. I like it. But it's hardly spiritual, to my mind. But beautiful in its own way.
Going My Way is a recurring Christmas Favorite. The movie, not necessarily the song. The follow-up, The Bells of St Mary's I like as well, although Ingrid Bergman's part is insufferably written.
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Nov 6, 2021 17:54:54 GMT -8
Less class it up a bit with the Eddie Higgins Trio:
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Post by kungfuzu on Nov 6, 2021 19:16:25 GMT -8
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Nov 6, 2021 19:35:50 GMT -8
Me too. And I have that soundtrack by the Vince Guaraldi Trio on heavy rotation this time of year. Good stuff.
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Post by kungfuzu on Nov 6, 2021 19:48:17 GMT -8
Indisputable proof that "Great Minds Think Alike!"
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Nov 7, 2021 9:12:59 GMT -8
I do think good taste generally has to be developed to some extent. That's part of the reason I (we) do what we do here. I didn't roll out of bed as a child liking Beethoven or (err....) Chicago.
Perhaps like you, my tastes are eclectic. Or, that is to say, I don't mind trying something just to check it out. I had a yute friend suggest a few techno pop tunes to me. One of them (also German) wasn't bad. Sounded a bit like Rammstein (German) which is a "Neue Deutsche Härte" band (which I like, at least for this band). This techno stuff had booming base. And booming base. Did I mention it had a booming base? If you could make music out of nothing more than booming base, let me tell you, someone has done that. But whether you call it music or not is a matter of opinion.
So I take a chance actually ruining my good taste while sampling other musical forms. But I can spit them out too. Often do.
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Nov 7, 2021 19:35:11 GMT -8
For your consideration: George Cables Trio: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Have a yuge one if you prefer.
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Post by kungfuzu on Nov 8, 2021 9:48:32 GMT -8
A nice piece, but I think it would have been significantly better had the pianist slowed down about a beat or two and made it less rushed. I think an appropriate title might be, "Have Yourself a Very Frantic Chistmas."
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Post by kungfuzu on Nov 8, 2021 10:42:43 GMT -8
Here is a Christmas song that uses its rapid tempo properly. This has been one of my favorite Christmas songs since I learned it in Junior High Choir. Of course as a tenor, I particularly liked the ending. The song puts a little spring in my step every time I hear it. Wassail wassail all over the townI only sampled something like wassail when I studied in Europe. Gluewein is very nice on a cold winter's night.
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Post by artraveler on Nov 8, 2021 13:04:38 GMT -8
I am reminded of an adventure shared with my oldest son mother in 1978 at Yosemite in the Alawane Hotel. We had gone there the previous year in late fall and Diane fell in love with the park and the hotel. At Christmas time the hotel presents a dinner theater they call the Bracebridege Dinner. This is a full medieval Christmas feast with the lord of the manner, presenting a gourmet meal. Hosted by a jester, which originally was Ansel Adams. We actually met a lady who had been there as a child and met Adams. It was what spurred us to leave our hotel room and explore the valley and register for the dinner, which at that time attendees were chosen by lottery. The dinner is formal attire and everyone goes as all out as they can afford. For men it is a tux, some included tails and top hats and for the women the most beautiful formal dress and jewelry. My lady wore a simple black gown, and her mother's pearls that drew attention to her lovely breasts. The evening starts with the guests meeting in one of the side rooms for cocktails and conversation. After about 10 minutes a piano player starts with Christmas carols, and for the next half hour or so everyone sings even the two Jews. It has nothing to do with religion but the good feeling engendered by 200 people gathered in a winter wilderness to enjoy a dinner/play, each other, and the joy of being alive in one of the most beautiful places in the world. These days the reservation is no longer by lottery and Ansel Adams is long gone as he was when I was there, but I hope the cocktail hour is unchanged it was a magical moment that I can live again and agin in my mind. It may be the only reason left to visit California. www.bracebridgedinners.com/
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Post by kungfuzu on Nov 8, 2021 13:24:38 GMT -8
What a menu!
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Nov 8, 2021 17:48:12 GMT -8
I like the simplicity, even roughness, of David Francey.Hope this link works.
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Nov 8, 2021 19:28:59 GMT -8
You describe well what certainly must have been a magical night. May we all have many more, larger, medium, or small.
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Post by kungfuzu on Nov 8, 2021 20:18:38 GMT -8
I get some log in page for Facebook. Since I am not now, nor have I ever been on Facebook, I am not able to connect to the link. If you can give me a title, I may try to find another link.
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Nov 9, 2021 8:39:53 GMT -8
It was a nice concert. But I can't find a link to it anywhere else. The link worked for me for a while and then it quit. Strange.
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