A Gift of Music for the Holidays
In this last post of 2024, we’re happy to share two videos on recent recordings by jazz artists Samara Joy and Jonathan Batiste as well as a few selections from one of our favorite holiday albums from the early 1990s, Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration.
Last evening, 60 Minutes featured a segment on Samara Joy, a three-time Grammy award winner whose latest recording, A Joyful Holiday, is nominated for two more. As you’ll see, her family’s artistry and love ground her flights into the ears and hearts of fans in the U.S., Europe, and, soon, around the globe.
Jewel and I first heard the young phenom in person two summers ago in Westport, CT, and have witnessed her magnificent song styling several times since. At 25, Joy’s formidable contralto voice caresses; on that summer day, her depth ranged across jazz tempos: her sultry, ballad take on Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight” entranced; a gently grooving version of Fats Navarro’s “Nostalgia,” featuring her vocalese lyrics to the melody as well as his original trumpet solo, demonstrated a poignant maturity beyond her years; and while scat singing, on a brisk rendition of Betty Carter’s “Tight,” she surfed the waves of her trio’s challenging yet supportive swing.
Beethoven Blues is the latest recording by the brilliant musical artist, Jon Batiste. If you wonder what the blues, jazz, gospel, punk, and more have to do with Beethoven, I invite you to listen and look at this 20-minute video, “Beethoven, the Blues, and Finding Your Sound,” in which Batiste demonstrates on the piano while sharing beautifully profound insights about the import of discovering your purpose, and what, in jazz and our Jazz Leadership Project, is termed Your Sound.
“Handel’s Messiah” is likely the most famous composition in European concert music performed during the Christmas season. In 1992, a recording featuring an array of Afro-American musical greats performing soulful arrangements of themes and compositions from the venerable classic was released. Mervyn Warren, a five-time Grammy Award-winning composer-arranger and original member of Take 6, spearheaded the project, with styles spanning spirituals, blues, jazz, ragtime, big band, gospel, fusion, R&B, and hip hop. The recording, executive produced by Quincy Jones, won the 1992 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album.
Here are several of our most favorite cuts:
“And He Shall Purify,” featuring Tramaine Hawkins
“O Thou That Tellest” with Take 6 and Stevie Wonder
“Why Do the Nations Rage, So Furiously Together,” featuring Al Jarreau with jazz big band
“I Know That My Redeemer Liveth,” featuring Tevin Campbell
We wish you, our faithful readers, a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwaanza, and a Happy New Year! We’ll see you in 2025.