Liner Notes - December
1. Thanksgiving (4:04)
Inspired by friends and places of Miles City, Montana.
2. Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head (2:40)
An Appalachian carol from the late nineteenth century. Collected by the eminent folklorist John Jacob Niles.
3. Joy (3:13)
By J.S. Bach, originally titled Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, and inspired by an arrangement by the great guitarist David Qualey from his album GUITAR SOLO (Telefunken Records 6.23413 – German import).
4. Prelude (1:16)
Inspired by the late, great jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi (1928-1976). Vince Guaraldi was best known for his standard piece Cast Your Fate to the Wind, which he composed and recorded in 1962, and for his soundtracks for the first 16 of the Peanuts® animations, from the first one in 1965, A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS (Fantasy Records 8431), until he passed away in 1976. I recorded an album of his compositions, LINUS & LUCY—THE MUSIC OF VINCE GUARALDI (Windham Hill 11184), in 1996, and a second volume is planned.
5. Carol of the Bells (3:56)
A traditional Ukrainian song. This version was inspired by the Billings, Montana winters.
Night 5:50
6. Part One: Snow (1:51)
7. Part Two: Midnight (1:56)
8. Part Three: Minstrels (2:00)
Minstrels was inspired by St. Basil’s Hymn (also called Ta Kalanda), a traditional Greek children’s New Years carol based upon a rendition by Malcolm Dalglish from his great album with Grey Larsen, THUNDERHEAD (Flying Fish Records 266).
9. Variations on the Kanon by Pachelbel (5:21)
Composed circa 1699, the Kanon may have originated as a solo pipe organ piece.
10. The Holly and the Ivy (4:52)
An eighteenth century English carol based upon an earlier French carol. The middle section was partly influenced by the great modern composer Steve Reich.
11. Some Children See Him (3:43)
Composed in 1951 by jazz trumpeter Alfred S. Burt (1921-1954), with lyrics by Wihla Hutson. This was one of fifteen carols for which Alfred Burt wrote the music, originally just to print on personal Christmas cards to family friends. Three trumpet-like sounds can be heard as the piano rings out at the end of the song. All of Alfred Burt’s fifteen carols are on the album produced by the Burt family, THIS IS CHRISTMAS: A COMPLETE COLLECTION OF THE ALFRED S. BURT CAROLS (Legacy Music 422B). (Another Alfred Burt carol, Sleep Baby Mine is included on this album as a bonus track—song #14).
12. Peace (4:02)
Inspired by composer Dominic Frontiere’s great soundtracks for the first year of the television series THE OUTER LIMITS from 1962-1963. Some of the music has been issued on the album ORIGINAL TELEVISION SOUNDTRACK – THE OUTER LIMITS, VOL. 1 (Crescendo Records 8032).
Produced by William Ackerman and George Winston
Recorded in September and October of 1982
Engineered by Steven Miller
Assistant Engineer: Karen Kirsch
Engineering by Karen Kirsch on Carol of the Bells and Variations on the Kanon by Pachelbel
Mastered by Bernie Grundman of Bernie Grundman Mastering, Hollywood, CA
Photos by Greg Edmonds
Design by Anne Robinson and William Ackerman
Thanksgiving, Prelude, Snow, Midnight, and Peace were composed in 1982 by George Winston and are published by Imaginary Road Music/Dancing Cat Music (BMI)
Some Children See Him composed by Alfred S. Burt and published by Hollis Music Inc. (BMI)
Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head, Joy, Carol of the Bells, Night – Part Three: Minstrels, Variations on the Kanon by Pachelbel and The Holly and the Ivy are in the public domain; arranged by George Winston and published by Imaginary Road Music/Dancing Cat Music (BMI)
There is a great wealth of traditional and contemporary music to draw from in doing an album for the winter season. These five albums have been very inspirational in the conceiving of this album as well as recording albums inspired by the seasons:
Vince Guaraldi: A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS (Fantasy Records 8431)
Howard Blake: THE SNOWMAN (CBS Records) – Out-of-print soundtrack from the animation of the classic Raymond Briggs children’s story. (It is available on video and DVD.)
John Fahey: THE NEW POSSIBILITY (Fantasy/Takoma Records 8912)
Joseph Byrd: A CHRISTMAS YET TO COME (Takoma Records 1046) – Out-of-print)
Alfred S. Burt: THIS IS CHRISTMAS: A COMPLETE COLLECTION OF THE ALFRED S. BURT CAROLS (Legacy Music 422B)
The traditional pieces were chosen for their appropriateness as instrumental music for this album. They are not meant to convey any personal religious beliefs.
Special thanks to Steven Miller and Cathy Econom for their valuable contributions in production.
Special thanks to Howard Blake, the Burt family, the late Henry Roeland Byrd (Professor Longhair), Joseph Byrd, the late Mario Casetta, Megan Corwin, John Creger, the late John Fahey, Dominic Frontiere, Alex de Grassi, the late Vince Guaraldi, Sam Hinton, Howard Johnston, Gail Kennedy Lovett, Jane McHugh, Lorraine Kober Monson, Steve Reich, the late Bola Sete, Thomas “Fats” Waller, Shad Weathersby and Paula Elting Wenham.
BONUS TRACKS
1. A Christmas Song (2:19)
By the great soundtrack composer John Barry, this song was originally a choral piece from the beautiful score of the 1972 film THE LAST VALLEY. The out-of-print soundtrack album on Dunhill Records is well worth finding.
2. Sleep Baby Mine (4:03)
Composed by Alfred Burt in 1949, inspired by the birth of his daughter, with lyrics by Wilha Hutson.
BONUS TRACK CREDITS
Produced by George Winston, Howard Johnston and Cathy Econom
Engineered by Howard Johnston
Additional engineering by Justin Lieberman, Adam Muñoz and Nancy Scharlau-Murman
Mastered by Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering, Hollywood, CA
A Christmas Song composed by John Barry and published by Universal-MCA Music Publishing (ASCAP)
Sleep Baby Mine composed by Alfred Burt and published by Hollis Music Inc. (BMI)
