Christmas In July 2018-Day 15
15, that's almost halfway through the month! Time flies when you know Christmas is coming. Let's jump right in!
1. Stille Nacht by Willie Dittrich from The Singing Zither-Christmas Music & Old Time Hymns (Jim Loyd Presents 1002 (WMT Radio, Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Stereo). Really happy with this one, and I found it just in time to share it with you this month instead of next year. Some of the best Christmas zither since Ruth Welcome!
2. Button Up Your Overcoat by Tom Hazleton from DTOC Command Performances-For Members Only Vol. 2 (Detroit Theater Organ Club No Number, Stereo, 1973). More organ that you aren't going to find anywhere else!
3. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring-The First Noël, a nice piano medley by Tedd Smith from Meditations (RCA Victor LPM-1636, Mono, 1958). This is a nice one. I hesitate to even call it a medley, it's closer to a mashup. It seems like he's actually playing both songs at the same time and it works really well. This is another one I brought home recently. Now I need to see if this one got released in Stereo.
4.-10. An entire Nutcracker Suite consisting of Overture Miniature, March, Chinese Dance, Arabian Dance, Dance Of The Mirlitons, Waltz Of The Flowers and, wait, I forgot to grab a Sugar Plum Fairy. Hold on, it's not too late, I guess you get 11 tracks tonight. OK, the artists are all the usual suspects, with spoken word introductions by Peter Ustinov and Deems Taylor. You don't really need all the info on these, do you? The info is in the track tags, I promise. When I get done at the end of the month, you can put them all back in their proper artist-album folders.
Zippyshare
i’ve been trying to get a handle on willie dittrich’s approach to zither music. i doubt if he got a lot of instruction in the amana colonies of iowa. and the zither is not something you just cotton to. when he plays “i’ll be home for christmas”, the melody keeps disappearing. he gives us other notes but they hardly constitute an improv. eventually the tune comes back in bits here and there, but the process seems hit and miss. and then it hit me: iowa. music instruction. the think method! maybe willie’s actually trying to will the melody into existence. it’s not a perfect process, but the results are fair. i’m not suggesting that professor harold hill stopped off in the amana colonies on his way to river city. but as far as i know, meredith willson never claimed to invent the think method all by himself. these ideas just got around.
ReplyDeleteThe Tom Hazelton cut says it is for Detroit Theater Organ Club members ONLY. I would be afraid to download it.
ReplyDeleteIowa?
ReplyDeleteLove various takes on the Nutcracker, so this summer is appreciated and great. My two favorites are probably still the Bob Keeshan (I played my record into the ground as a kid), and the six part Spike Jones comic take.
ReplyDeletethat Jesu/Noël mashup is brilliant! thank you!
ReplyDelete