Shadowfax - Shadowdance (1983)

Note: The disc I own is the made in Japan-for-US market pressing in a smooth sided jewel case.

For whatever reason, I didn't jump on the Shadowfax train when it passed my station in the '80s, but this CD was in the clearance bin and I thought I'd take a chance on some relaxing, acoustic Windham Hill New Age music. While there's some of that here, there's also a bit of electronic jazz-rock that took me by surprise. Maybe in an effort for more commercial success? And even though I'm not crazy about the timbre of an electric jazz violin, I like this album even more than I thought I might. In my little world, this sort of stuff is more appropriate for background music than active listening, but the CD is worth more than the 50¢ I shelled out for it.

Reviews/ratings:

• Billboard: "taps enough rock, jazz and Third World elements to straddle more conventional commercial jazz formats"
• CashBox: "exotic and accessible enough to penetrate the mainstream"
• High Fidelity: "quite a departure from the music of the acoustic soloists who dominate [the Windham Hill] roster."
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★

The group and album were also featured in the December 1983 issue of DownBeat magazine.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #145
• Billboard Jazz: #13
• CashBox: #170
• CashBox Jazz: #9

Tracks: It's an ethno-fusion mixed bag of acoustic, electric, Western, Eastern, upbeat, ballad, odd meters, etc., but the writing is generally good, and overall, relaxing and enjoyable. My top picks today are Distant Voices and the cover medley of Don Cherry's songs Brown Rice & Karmapa Chenno.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I probably heard this album as a college undergrad as some of my peers were into Shadowfax at the time, particularly the 1984 album The Dreams Of Children.

Various Artists - Melrose Place Jazz (1998)

Yeah, I was an avid fan of the nighttime soap Melrose Place, especially in the early seasons. So many beautiful people to look at! (I was very much crushing on Marcia Cross at the time.) It was appointment television for my wife and I back in the nineties. During the show's fourth season, characters named Jake and Jo opened a jazz club called Upstairs Jazz Club; so named because it was located above Shooters, the popular bar and hangout spot on the show. This compilation CD was released during the show's sixth season.

Several smooth jazz artists appeared on the show, including Kenny G., Huge Groove, and Vanessa Williams. However, you won't find their music on this CD. This "soundtrack" is simply a curated compilation of smooth jazz and jazz vocalists put together by the Windham Hill Jazz label, so there's no overlap with onscreen performances. Go figure. Nevertheless, it includes a wide variety of jazz and jazz-adjacent music and is a fairly accurate representation of smooth jazz/new age/soft R&B of the time and includes several of my favorite artists, such as Tom Scott and Earl Klugh.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• Billboard Contemporary Jazz: #13

Tracks, with my favorites indicated:

	Artist	Title
1	Tom Scott	Melrose Place Theme
2	Etta James	The Man I Love	✔
3	Earl Klugh	Before You Go	✔
4	Tuck & Patti	Takes My Breath Away
5	Tom Scott	Amanda's Song
6	Lisa Fischer	Way Past Goodbye	✔
7	Todd Cochran	She Is Gentle Rain
8	Johnny Reno	Martinis At Eight
9	Ricky Peterson	Air Play
10	The Braxton Brothers	Happy Again	✔
11	Diana Krall	I Don't Know Enough About You
12	Jim Brickman	You Never Know
13	The Rippingtons feat. Russ Freeman	Black Diamond (acoustic version)
14	Don Grusin	Solaria	✔
15	Tom Scott	Love Will Lead You Back
16	Abraham Laboriel	Time For You And I

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: see above. I wouldn't dare watch an episode of the show these days. Sometimes it's best to live with the memories we have rather than trying to recreate them.

Liz Story with Joel Di Bartolo (1996)

Described on the back cover as "Melodic piano voicings of romantic standards from the 1920's and '30's [sic] including classics by Gershwin, Johnny Mercer and Cole Porter - along with enchanting contemporary ballads."

Classy dinner party music. You can't go wrong with standards - that's why they're standards - and bassist Joel Di Bartolo adds some nice touches to the arrangements (Story and Di Bartolo were married at the time of recording). Still, I'm putting this one in the "good, not great" category and will probably stick with Story's solo improvisation releases, especially Speechless. For more about this self-titled release, here's an article about the album from Billboard magazine: Windham Hill's Liz Story Reaches Beyond New Age (Oct 5, 1996) or you can visit the 1996 Windham Hill website thanks to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine: windham.com.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• Billboard New Age: #22

Tracks with composer and year of publication:

1. The Very Thought Of You - Ray Noble, 1934 ✔
2. Memories of You - Eubie Blake, 1930
3. Someone To Watch Over Me - George Gershwin, 1926 ✔
4. Church of Trees - Liz Story, 1990 ✔
5. Mack The Knife - Kurt Weill, 1928
6. I Thought About You - Jimmy Van Heusen, 1939
7. In The Still Of The Night - Cole Porter, 1937
8. Elm - Richard Beirach, 1979
9. I Can't Get Started - Vernon Duke, 1936
10. Ana - Liz Story, 1986

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
The Gift (1994)
Escape of the Circus Ponies (1990)
Speechless (1988)
Part Of Fortune (1986)
Solid Colors (1982)

Windham Hill Artists - A Winter's Solstice (1985)

Calm New Age tunes just seem suited to the season, especially if one listens alone on a quiet night by the light of a fire or Christmas tree. Granted, "quiet nights" are few and become fewer as we near the year's end, but that doesn't mean I won't make the attempt. No familiar Christmas tunes here unless you put the "What Child Is This" lyrics to the Greensleeves melody, yet they all just seem to fit. Perfectly conceived and executed, this release was successful enough to spawn numerous sequels and a series of concert tours.

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "A collection of seasonally oriented compositions including originals and traditional tunes."
• CashBox: "Should sell like antifreeze in St. Paul in February."
• Art Lange in DownBeat: "there's no denying the sheer beauty of the 10 pieces on this compilation."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #77
• Billboard Jazz: #11
• CashBox: #106
• CashBox Jazz: #7
• R&R Jazz Radio National Airplay: #26

Tracks:

1. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring - David Qualey (guitar) ✔
2. Engravings II - Ira Stein (piano) & Russel Walder (oboe)
3. New England Morning - William Ackerman (guitar)
4. High Plains (Christmas On The High-Line) - Philip Aaberg (piano) ✔
5. Nollaig - Bill Oskay (violin) & Mícheál Ó Domhnaill (guitar)
6. Greensleeves - Liz Story (piano) ✔
7. Bach Bourée (From The French Suite) - Darol Anger (violin) & Mike Marshall (mandolin)
8. Northumbrian Lullaby - Malcolm Dalglish (hammered dulcimer)
9. Petite Aubade - Shadowfax
10. A Tale Of Two Cities - Mark Isham (keyboards, trumpet) ✔

Tracks 1, 6, and 7 are arrangements of tunes found in the public domain, the remaining tracks are original compositions

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Windham Hill releases

Various Artists - Windham Hill Records: Sampler '82 (1982)

Selections from the Windham Hill Records album catalogue. This album was the second such sampler issued from Windham Hill, a New Age label that existed from 1976-2007.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• Billboard Jazz: #33

Tracks, with my picks indicated (✔):

1. Remedios - William Ackerman from the album Passage
2. Blosson/Meadow - George Winston from the album Winter Into Spring ✔
3. The Happy Couple - Michael Hedges from the album Breakfast In The Field ✔
4. Minou's Waltz - Ira Stein & Russel Walder from the album Elements
5. A Thousand Teardrops - Shadowfax from the album Shadowfax
6. Wedding Rain - Liz Story from the album Solid Colors ✔
7. Tideline - Darol Anger & Barbara Higbie from the album Tideline
8. Purple Mountain - Scott Cossu from the album Wind Dance
9. Clockwork - Alex de Grassi from the album Clockwork ✔

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None. I wasn't much into this stuff until later in the decade, around '87-'89. While I enjoy the music and find it quite relaxing and meditative, I can only handle it in small doses - usually no more than one album at a time. Go figure.

I recently picked up this disc from a local thrift store for a quarter, partially because of the music, but mainly because it still had the original smooth-sided jewel case. In the past, I would often remark that I'm not a CD collector, but rather a music junkie who just happens to prefer buying CDs to other formats. However, when I buy a disc because of the packaging, I need to go ahead and acknowledge the fact that I am indeed a CD collector. "Hi, my name is Mark, and I'm a CD collector."

Previously revisited for the blog:
Sampler '94 (1994)
Windham Hill - The First Ten Years (1990)

Various Artists - Soul Of The Machine (1987)

The CD is subtitled "The Windham Hill Sampler of New Electronic Music" with track titles like Peace Of Mind, Land Of The Morning Calm, and The Lure Of Silence. That should tell you all you need to know about this release, but I'm gonna ramble on anyway. I found this disc in the clearance bin and have been fascinated by it ever since. Some of it is typical '80s New Age fare/yoga background music, but other pieces are a bit experimental and remind me more of art film scores or works that might have been written by a student pursuing an academic degree in music composition. And while there are a couple of names I recognize (Philippe Saisse and Tim Story), most are new to me. Lots of moody synth pads, to put it mildly.

Billboard, July 25, 1987, p. 72
The CD edition includes a bonus track.

Curiously, some of the composers/performers on the sampler never released a full album on the Windham Hill label (marked with an asterisk below). Isn't that the point of such samplers? To sell more albums for the label?

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: Interestingly, the tracks are listed on the back cover without artist credit, only the following: "Publishing information listed inside CD booklet." So here's the real track info:

1. Rizzo by Mitchel Forman
2. Time And The River by Fred Simon*
3. Water Trade by Michael Whiteley*
4. Ayers Rock by Colin Chin*
5. Peace Of Mind by Richard Schönherz & Peter Scott
6. Land Of The Morning Calm by Philippe Saisse
7. Cityscape by Gary Chang
8. Chorale by Ted Greenwald & Scott Hiltzik*
9. In The Age Of Steam by Mark Darnell*
10. The Lure Of Silence by Tim Story
11. Shadows Of The Earth by Roy Finch*

My favorite tracks today are 1, 5, 7, and 9.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None.

Liz Story - Solid Colors (1982)

There's any number of jazz/NewAge improvisational pianists, including big names like Keith Jarrett and George Winston, but my ear seems to prefer the music created by Liz Story. Solid Colors was the debut album from Story and consists of 9 original works for solo piano as well as a cover of Bill Evans's Peace Piece. With a technique she would continue to display throughout her recording career, Story plays intricate but relaxing improvisations - usually lilting above a pedal point or ostinato bass - with a delicate, but lively touch.

And I'm puzzled by the fact the album cover does not use solid colors in the chosen painting ("Unaccountable Bluish Glow" by Michael S. Moore).

Press of the time:

• High Fidelity: "an impressive introduction to an impressive new artist."
• Billboard: "a personal style centered in ringing chordal passages but still graced with poise."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• Billboard Jazz: #21
• CashBox Jazz: #18

Note: Billboard did not debut a New Age Albums chart until October 29, 1988.

Tracks: Not only should you listen to this album in total and in sequence, you should pair it with other Story albums whenever you want some quiet, alone time. Today, my favorite tracks are Pacheco Pass, the title track, and Bradley's Dream. Headphones recommended.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
The Gift (1994)
Escape of the Circus Ponies (1990)
Speechless (1988)
Part Of Fortune (1986)

George Winston - Summer (1991)

Note: the CD I listened to was the original 1991 release.

Just what you would expect from a George Winston album: lots of peaceful, slow, relaxing New Age solo acoustic piano noodling. Like most New Age music, this is one of those albums that's perfect when I'm in a New Age-y mood and irritating as hell when I'm not. Also, there's nothing here that is very summerish to me, unlike previous albums December or Autumn, which somehow perfectly capture those times of year.

Billboard, October 19, 1991, p. 76
I think the "Winter" album the
reviewer refers to is December.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #55
• Billboard New Age: #1

Tracks: Of the 15 tracks here, Winston wrote 7. The rest are arrangements of pieces by other jazz musicians, film composers, public domain, etc. It all goes down easy, but I'll pick out Winston's arrangements of Randy Newman's Living Without You and Carmine Coppola's music from the 1979 film The Black Stallion as my top cuts. Then there's the traditional tune Corrina Corrina as a track that doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the album. Of the original pieces here, I prefer track 7, simply titled Lullaby.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None. I picked this up last year for $1 out of a used bin.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Linus & Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi (1996)
The Velveteen Rabbit (1985)
December (1981)

Various Artists - Here, There & Everywhere • The Songs Of The Beatles: A Windham Hill Collection (1999)

As the title suggests, this disc consists of New Age covers of Beatles tunes. And it sounds exactly as you might imagine. One of those albums that's perfect when you're in the mood and irritating as hell when you're not.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: 13 tracks, 49½ minutes, today's favorites marked with a ✔.

Song	Artist
You Won't See Me	Snuff Walden	✔
I Will	Tuck & Patti	✔
Eleanor Rigby	Wayne Johnson
Here, There And Everywhere	Liz Story	✔
If I Needed Someone	Michael Hedges	✔
Martha My Dear	George Winston	✔
Girl	Doyle Dykes
Within You Without You	Angels of Venice	✘
Blackbird	Sean Harkness	✔
Here Comes The Sun	Tracy Silverman and Thea Suits Silverman
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds	Lisa Lynne
Mother Nature's Son	Free Klassic
The Long And Winding Road	Liz Story	✔

Judging from the number of ✔ above, I must have been in a New Age mood this morning, huh? I find myself favoring tracks that feature piano and/or guitar over those with string instruments (remind me to tell you some unpleasant stories of my experiences with a green instructor and an ornery viola in my elementary strings class during freshman year in college). I'm not sure if I'd ever heard anything from Tuck & Patti before buying this disc, but their two tracks on the album (2 & 9) steal the show and I'll be listening to more of them henceforth.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Various Artists - Windham Hill - The First Ten Years (1990)

Today marks the tenth anniversary of The CD Project and I'll admit that I bought this 2 disc set based mainly on its title and solely for the purpose of featuring it today. But it's fitting so I make no apologies. Here's the gist of this new age compilation directly from the liner notes:

Note: label founder William Ackerman doesn't care for the term 'new age' when describing Windham Hill:

We actually pre-date the term considerably, and I don't see why we should be particularly enthused about settling for it.

However, I believe history will remember the label (1976 - 2007) as synonymous with the genre.

I thought I was quite familiar with the Windham Hill label since I've been listening to some of its releases since the early '80s. Plus, CDs from William Ackerman, George Winston, and Liz Story have all appeared on this blog. However, after giving these discs a listen, I quickly discovered there were quite a few Windham Hill artists I had never heard nor heard of. Overall, a very relaxing album, as you might expect, but with more variety than most new age albums - a nice primer.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did Not Chart
Peak on the US Billboard New Age album chart: #10

Tracks:

Disc One:

Song	Artist	Year
Bricklayer's Beautiful Daughter	William Ackerman	1977
White Rain	Alex de Grassi	1979
Colors/Dance	George Winston	1980	✔
Angel's Flight	Shadowfax	1982
Bradley's Dream	Liz Story	1983	✔
Afternoon Postlude Soliloquy	Daniel Hecht	1980
2nd Gymnopedie	Bill Quist	1979	✘
Homfeld Suite	David Qualey	1980	✔
Rickover's Dream	Michael Hedges	1983	✔
Variations on Clair De Lune	Robbie Basho	1979
Oristano Sojourn	Scott Cossu	1984
Clockwork	Alex de Grassi	1983
Peace	George Winston	1982	✔
Aerial Boundaries	Michael Hedges	1984	✔
Egrets	Montreux	1985
On The Threshold Of Liberty	Mark Isham	1983

Disc Two:

Song	Artist	Year
Welcoming	Michael Manring	1985	✔
The 19A	Nightnoise	1984
Montana Half Light	Philip Aaberg	1985	✔
Shadowdance	Shadowfax	1983	✘
Pittsburgh 1901 (Theme From Mrs. Soffel)	Mark Isham	1984
The Calling	Stein & Walder	1986
Gwenlaise	Scott Cossu w/Eugene Friesen	1986
Dolphins	Mike Marshall	1985
Wishing Well	Schönherz & Scott	1987	✔
Theme for Naomi Uemura	Philip Aaberg	1986	✔
Toys Not Ties	Nightnoise	1987
Close Cover	Wim Mertens	1986
To The Well	W. A. Mathieu	1987
Hot Beach	Interior	1982	✔
New Waltz	Malcolm Dalglish	1985
Processional	William Ackerman	1986
Woman At The Well	Tim Story	1987

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

---

First post, 2010: Paul Simon - Graceland (1986)
1st anniversary, 2011 (post #378): Electric Light Orchestra - Time (1981)
2nd anniversary, 2012 (post #694): Seal (1994)
3rd anniversary, 2013 (post #948): Fun Boy Three - Really Saying Something: The Best of Fun Boy Three (1997)
4th anniversary, 2014 (post #1127): Ultravox - Quartet (1982)
5th anniversary, 2015 (post #1231): Soul Hits of the '70s: Didn't It Blow Your Mind, Vol. 5 (1991)
6th anniversary, 2016: no post
7th anniversary, 2017: no post
8th anniversary, 2018 (post #1461): Pat Metheny - Watercolors (1977)
9th anniversary, 2019 (post #1524): Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever (1989)

Various Artists - Windham Hill Records Sampler '94 (1994)

In today's world, there's no need for label samplers such as this because of streaming and file sharing. So this relic is a product of a bygone era (sheesh, Mark, melodramatic much?). Likewise, much has been made of the impending doom of the compact disc (ain't gonna happen if I can help it, folks). But it's a great time for CD buyers like myself as people are discarding CDs as if they were landlines and I'm here to happily pick up the leftovers like a dog under a dinner table. For example, I got this disc as part of a 39 CD lot recently purchased on eBay for only $10. I'll do the math for ya: just under 26¢ per CD.

In any case, this CD is as advertised. Tracks from Windham Hill label's New Age/World Music/ambient noodling/yoga music releases. To be honest, I'm unfamiliar with most of these artists as I had already been through my Windham Hill phase back in the '80s. However, it's very relaxing and I'm digging it more than I thought I might. I woulda paid twice the price. 😉 Surprisingly good compilation when considering the label, then 18 years old, was in flux (Windham Hill was purchased by BMG through a series of buyouts from 1992 through 1996).

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart
Peak on the US Billboard New Age Chart: #2*

Tracks: 13 tracks, 61 minutes

1. Bright Sky by Alex De Grassi ✔
2. Love on Three Levels by Psychograss
3. Sentimental Walk by Philip Aaberg ✔
4. Pavanne by Steve Erquiaga ✔
5. Night In That Land by Nightnoise ✘
6. Patu by Aquarela Carioca
7. Firewater by Gaia
8. How Insensitive by Liz Story ✔
9. A Happy Home in Kathmandu by Will Ackerman
10. Redonda by Modern Mandolin Quartet
11. Pas de Deux by Scott Cossu 
12. My Heart by Øystein Sevåg ✘
13. Ivory by Ray Lynch ✘

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

*I had no idea until today that Billboard had ever produced a New Age album chart and evidently it's still going strong. In any case, this particular sampler was kept out of the top spot on said chart by a live Yanni album.

Liz Story - Escape of the Circus Ponies (1990)

Perfect melancholy, relaxing music for a cool, rainy day (even though it's sunny, dry, and 90° as I listen and write this). I've enjoyed the New Age piano improvisational noodlings on Story's 1988 album Speechless for almost 25 years, so whenever I see a Story CD from around that time in the used CD bin, I'll pick it up. This is every bit as good as Speechless, but I guess that earlier album was just the right music at the right time because I continue to prefer it to Story's other work. That's how it goes sometimes.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: 9 tracks, 50 minutes. My picks here are Broken Arrow Drive and Church Of Trees. Skip the title cut and Another Shore.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
The Gift (1994)
Speechless (1988)
Part Of Fortune (1986)

William Ackerman - In Search of the Turtle's Navel (1976)

"LET'S GET IT OVER WITH" WEEK (OCTOBER 15-21, 2012)

Early New Age solo acoustic guitar noodling. According to Allmusic, "For many people, this is the album that invented new-age music." Whatevs. It's a little too folksy/bluegrassy for my tastes. I purchased this CD simply because it was $1 and it was on the Windham Hill label (this album was actually the first release on Windham Hill, which was founded by Ackerman and his wife). Not my bag, but I've wasted $1 on worse things. For more info and original album art, click here.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: For the most part, the track titles are more creative than the music.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None.

Meryl Streep and George Winston - The Velveteen Rabbit (1985)

One of the more unusual CDs in the collection, this is simply Meryl Streep reading Margery Williams' The Velveteen Rabbit over Winston's new age piano noodling. Both artists contribute their usual solid work. Much of Winston's work on this CD can also be heard on his December album. (In other words, he plagiarized himself.) I haven't listened to this album in many, many years. I could never get my boys to listen to it and have the book read to them via CD. It's a good book to hear this time of year.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #180

George Winston - Linus & Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi (1996)

This solo piano CD is a tribute from one great pianist to another. It does a great job capturing the musical essence of both men. While I was familiar with Guaraldi's work from the Peanuts cartoons, this CD introduced me to more his compositions. Guaraldi usually performed with a trio (piano, bass, drums), so these solo piano recordings sometimes seem like they're missing a little something, but Winston's style and virtuosic playing often makes up for it. Every now and then, I'll notice Winston throwing in some embellishment or passing tones and it always works; it sounds like it's always been there. Winston, however, never sacrifices Guaraldi's characteristic piano voicing. Classic. Winston recorded and released a second volume of Guaraldi tunes in 2010, entitled Love Will Come, but I haven't heard any of that music yet.

Billboard, October 12, 1996

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #55
• CashBox Jazz: #1

Tracks: Linus & Lucy is classic, of course, as is any of the music from the 16(!) Peanuts cartoons that Guaraldi scored before his death in 1976. The CD starts off with one of my fav Guaraldi compositions, Cast Your Fate to the Wind, which I think you would probably recognize even though it was never in a Charlie Brown cartoon.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: In the late '90s, my friend Scott introduced me to this CD, which he couldn't praise enough. When I finally picked up a used copy, I was upset that I hadn't purchased it earlier.

George Winston - December (1982)

Note: this 20th Anniversary edition contains 2 bonus tracks.

The emerging genre of New Age music might have gone unnoticed by me if a friend of the family hadn't given this album to my father as a Christmas gift around the time of release. I had never heard anything like it and it was certainly different than anything else I was listening to at the time. The music is haunting and mesmerizing. Listening to it while looking at the album cover art (I wish I still had the 12" album cover) always transports me.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #54
• Billboard Pop CD: #15
• Billboard Jazz: #2
• CashBox: #81
• CashBox Jazz: #1
• CashBox CD: #17

Tracks: Thanksgiving, Joy, Some Children See Him, The Holly & the Ivy, and Peace are all good solos. I could do without his take on Pachelbel's Canon, but that's probably because it is an overplayed work. The two bonus tracks fit nicely on the disc; my guess is they were omitted originally because an LP can only hold so much music without distorting the sound quality.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: This album makes me fondly remember Christmases in Bay City during my high school years. This release, along with a church choir Christmas cantata introduced me to the carols of Alfred Burt, which are worth seeking out.