jazz2love

Album:  All Is Merry And Bright Artist:  Donald Vega Label:  Imagery Records Website:  www.donaldvega.com Pianist and composer Donald Vega applies his distinctive artistic brush strokes to classic Yuletide tunes on his 2024 release All Is Merry and Bright from Imagery Records.  Produced by multi Grammy winner engineer and producer Jim Anderson, Vega is joined by Pete Van Nostrand on drums and Clovis Nicolas on bass.  The trio coalesce classic motifs with a flare for magnetic and innovative phrasing. Vega's poignant keyboard punctuations are scattered across tracks like "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and "O Come, O Come Emmanuel," sprinkling the tunes with sparks of buoyancy and impromptu impressions.  The bubbly facets enhance the Yuletide experience. The solace emanating from Vega's keys along "O Little Town of Bethlehem" is inviting with warm aesthetics that are universally pleasing.  His rendition of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" exud...

Album:  Welcome Winter Artist:  Bryan Lubeck Label:  Vineyard Music Productions Website:  www.bryanlubeck.com Welcome Winter , the latest offering from guitarist Bryan Lubeck is an acoustic assemblage of holiday classics with the title track being an original score composed by him and highlighting his Spanish guitar stylizing. The cozy atmospherics nestle the listener in fireside-imbued warmth, tinted in an amalgam of silky guitar chords and contemporary grooves.  Lubeck redefines each track with reflective musings in his chord patterns and Latin flavored intonations to a pristine finish. His interpretation of "The Christmas Song" is fashioned with breathy woodwind-textured swirls and candlelit guitar riffs, coruscating ethereal terrain.  The jangling beats of "Jingle Bells" stoke the festive flames of his bubbly guitar verses, riffing off the melodic motifs and honing twinkling improvisations.  Lubeck has a penchant to make his notes twinkle and flare...