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LORI HEHR PUBLIC RELATIONS
JUAN CARLOS QUINTERO/Joy to the World: Tasty guitar man we haven’t heard from in a while checks in with some holiday cheer led by his wonderful guitar work. A tasty set of old faves done over in his own style, this fuels the multi culti Christmas you’ve been looking for in a very reliable way. A skillful blending of the familiar with the new (as in songs merging with style), this is a warm welcome to the holiday season.
7712 (Tenure)
LUIS VILLEGAS/Guitarras de Navidad: So, if you aren’t Hispanic, did you ever give any thought as to how well so many of the Christmas classics lend themselves to Latin favored interpretation? What have us gringos really had to deal with, holiday sets by Jose Feliciano and Charo? Villegas and his crew have given this a lot of thought and check in with a world beat Christmas that sets new standards for the old standards. Tasty, fun stuff that adds the right dash of hot sauce to the festivities.
7111 (Tenure)
ROCK PEPER SCISSORS
KITKA/Rusalka Cycle: Art and world beat come together as a long time Russian music vocal crew enlist an indigenous talent to present a song cycle about Russian sirens and the songs they sing leading the unsuspecting to the doom. Not exactly what mermaid legends like “Little Mermaid” would have us believe, but so it goes. Easy to appreciate on a theatrical level, this inspired telling is a powerful presentation that NPR types will find right up their alley. Anyone who dug the Voices of Bulgaria is off to a running start in getting into this.
20071 (Diaphonica)
SAVOY
JIM BRICKMAN/Homecoming: Brickman should just make a new holiday set every year a new holiday tradition. In warm hearth Brickman fashion, he checks in with a new set that gives good piano spin to classics, features duets with friends old and new and pretty much finds him assuming the Kraft Music Hall type mantle for holiday showmanship, without the Velveeta finish. Almost like schmaltz without the cholesterol (as opposed to schmaltz lite—all the fat with none of the taste), there’s something about Brickman’s presentation and style that makes him feel like an old friend, certainly welcome around the holidays. Another disc full of proof that Brickman is the new standard bearer of family entertainment.
17659
Volume 31/Number 7
November 7, 2007
MIDWEST RECORD
830 W. Route 22 #144
Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
©2007 Midwest Record
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