I'm very excited to share tonight's album with you. It is the Original Cast Recording of the NBC Broadcast of Gian-Carlo Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors". Premiering on the NBC Television Theatre on Christmas Eve, 1951, "Amahl and the Night Visitors" was the first opera commissioned specifically for television broadcast.
The story is of Amahl, a young crippled shepherd boy who lives with his mother. They are visited one night by the Magi, on their journey to Bethlehem. The Magi are in need of food, drink, and rest when they encounter Amahl and his mother. The story of their visit is a wonderful, uplifting tale. The opera is performed by extraordinary singers, accompanied by an excellent chorus and orchestra.
Here in Kansas City, the Lyric Opera presented "Amahl..." for several years, with an interesting twist. The character performances were done by the Paul Mesner Puppets, his talented puppeteers bringing the story to life (I know one of the puppeteers, who had the role of "mothers right arm"). Members of the Lyric Opera were to the left of the elevated stage performing the singing, and an ensemble from the Kansas City Symphony was to the right for the musical score. The production was in a small venue, seating only about 200 persons at most, so we were very close to the performers and set. I attended this amazing production twice, always feeling like it was one of the best events of the Christmas season.
In addition to a digital transfer from the vinyl album, I have scanned and added as a PDF the program notes brochure that was included with the album, featuring the entire libretto as well as information about the opera and the original production.
I believe that this recording is available on CD, so I'll ask that if you listen to this and fall in love with it, please go ahead and make a purchase of the CD or other digital media. My audio files are simply Side 1 and Side 2 - I didn't feel right trying to break it up into smaller tracks.
The Wildwoods, a folk/Americana trio from Lincoln, Nebraska, have released a new EP of Christmas songs for the 2024 holiday season. Christmas Through the Years features the Wildwoods' original song "Somewhere in the Snow", a wonderful cover of Fleet Foxes "White Winter Hymnal", and three traditional Christmas songs, "White Christmas", "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", and "Christmas Time is Here".
Astute readers of Merry & Bright may recall that we featured the Wildwoods' Christmas song debut in 2023, for their release of "Somewhere in the Snow". We are thrilled that they have come back in 2024 with the EP.
"White Christmas" is an adaptation for folk trio of The Drifter's version, and it's exquisite. "White Winter Hymnal" gloriously shows their talents as performers and arrangers, putting a Wildwoods touch on the Fleet Foxes song, with vocals that are beautiful and tightly complementary with their instruments. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is soft, sublime, and touches the heart.
Christmas Through the Years is available to stream on all the usual streaming services.
Tonight's share is an interesting one, and one that I was thrilled to acquire from a local record store in the process of closing up shop (the owner was retiring, and all stock [except for a few that he was holding back to sell on Discogs] was 70% off on the day I found this).
The Alcoa Singers, a choral group of employees of Alcoa, was first formed in 1961, according to internet resources. This album, "An old-fashioned Christmas", features 11 Christmas favorites performed by the chorus. However, the headlining songs are eight numbers from "The Stingiest Man in Town".
Alcoa has a long history with "The Stingiest Man in Town". In 1956, Alcoa was the presenting sponsor of a television presentation of "The Stingiest Man in Town", starring Basil Rathbone as Scrooge, and also featuring Vic Damone and the Four Lads. This was the first musical adaption of "A Christmas Carol", and also a very early color television broadcast (probably before there were many television sets that were capable of color reception).
Alcoa kept ties with "The Stingiest Man in Town" over the years, and songs from the production became staples of the Alcoa Singers' repertoire. In 1979, this album was released, featuring the Singers' performances of highlights from the musical, and the collection of other holiday favorites.
I had no idea that "The Stingiest Man in Town" had a life before Rankin-Bass. We never stop learning about our Christmas musical history!
Please enjoy The Alcoa Singers "An old-fashioned Christmas"
Wow! I am falling behind in the ol' bloggersphere this year. I'll make it up over the next week, for sure. To catch up just a bit, I'm going to give you two secret shares tonight. These are albums I prepped for sharing, and then found them on Spotify. I think that both of them are not highly played and probably lack the recognition that they deserve. So, I'm going to go ahead and share them without fanfare (or identification). Do me a favor - once you download and listen, if you love them, go to Spotify and give them a play or two, add them to a playlist, do whatever you can do to support the artists.
Good Sunday evening (or whenever you may be reading this) to everyone. Here is the first (of a meager few...) share of the 2024 season, "Christmas Time with the Harlem Children's Chorus".
I found this record earlier this year at Willa's Books and Vinyl, a black-owned business here in Kansas City, focusing on books by black authors, books about black persons, and records by black musicians. Miss Willa, the store owner, is a local treasure, and has an immense knowledge about black literature and music. When I was in her store, we had a great conversation about jazzman Sonny Stitt and the great author/poet Langston Hughes (in fact, I came away with an excellent edition of Hughes' "Tambourines to Glory"). Willa is looking to retire in the upcoming year, and the fate of her store is as yet unknown. KC people - if you're aiming to make a visit to Willa's, do it quick.
Back to the record -- this is a really outstanding collection. Many times 'chorus' records can be a little tough to enjoy, but this is an exception. Great song selection, excellent performances and recording. There's a lot to like here.
There are some of the usual Christmas carols, but also some welcome surprises, such as "Black Christmas", "Donde Esta Santa Claus", and "Christmas is for Children".
Please enjoy "Christmas Time with the Harlem Children's Chorus".
The Honey Badgers, Erin Magnin and Michael Natrin, have been making beautiful music for over 13 years. Calling Delaware their home, they take their duet harmonies and guitar/fiddle driven Americana-folk music all along the Eastern seaboard, with regular forays westward, performing at folk music gatherings, house concerts, and in intimate venues across the USA. A few years back the Honey Badgers recorded a few Christmas tunes which captured the attention of the Christmas music collector community, as well as the folk music audience.
Erin and Michael returned to making holiday music in 2020 and 2021, with the release of two singles, "In the Bleak Midwinter" and their original "Warm Winter". Along the way they have released a steady stream of outstanding folk albums and singles, all available from their Bandcamp site.
I've been a fan of the Honey Badgers for many years, and earlier this year I got to meet them at the fabulous Australian bakery/cafe Banksia. They were passing through Kansas City on the route between Manhattan KS and Knob Knoster MO, and made time for a quick lunch and meet 'n' greet. You will never meet nicer folks than Erin and Michael. During our lunch I pitched the idea of a blog interview, and they enthusiastically agreed. And so, here we are - my interview with the Honey Badgers!
Der Bingle meets The Honey Badgers
Links to all of their web presences follow the interview. Please take a few minutes to listen to the Honey Badgers and (as I always say) if you like what you hear, do your part to support these excellent independent musicians (i.e. buy their music!).
Merry & Bright Interview with The Honey Badgers
Merry & Bright: Hello Erin & Michael! Thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions for Merry & Bright!
The Honey Badgers: Thanks for chatting with us. It feels like we just saw you in person, but somehow that was all the way back in February! MB: Let’s start with a quick ‘getting to know you’ question. How did The Honey Badgers get started? How long have you been doing the music thing as a duo?
HB: We started performing together as a duo in July of 2011, which means we’ve been performing for 13 years now. Our first gig together, where we jokingly came up with our name, was a competition to play the local folk festival. We made the finals and have been performing with the name since then. In 2019, we both quit our corporate jobs and began performing music as a full time job. MB: Back in 2012, you released a Christmas EP, “Christmas with The Honey Badgers”, featuring “What Child Is This”, a short but reverent “Silent Night”, and a lovely performance of “O Holy Night”, plus a very amusing “Meowtro”, your closing message to your fans. It’s been a few years ago now, but what can you tell us about choosing the songs and creating this EP?
HB: Great question! We found a list of public domain music and picked a few of our favorites. Those are all songs that we grew up singing along to. We tracked that EP in my college apartment and pulled the whole project together pretty quickly. It was a lot of fun. It’s definitely a snapshot in time - I think we’d both perform those songs quite differently today.
MB: Let’s move ahead a bit: in 2021 you gave us a wonderful original single, “Warm Winter”. While not technically a Christmas song, it’s full of wintry imagery – ice, cold winds, bare branches, footprints in the snow. Can you tell us the story of “Warm Winter”?
HB: We wrote Warm Winter in February of 2014 as both a love song and an ode to winter, centered on how even a freezing winter can feel cozy and warm with the right person. Erin was experimenting for the first time with the alternate guitar tuning of DADGAD, and thought it sounded just like a quiet winter day, sparkling with snow. For a few years we only performed it every once in a while during holiday-adjacent shows. Late in the first winter of the pandemic we decided that it was about time to finally record and release it. We bundled up and filmed a music video for it as well, immediately following a snowstorm, which resulted in us both almost freezing our little fingers off.
MB: I’ve saved my personal favorite for last – your just-before-Christmas 2020 release of “In the Bleak Midwinter”. This is one of the seasonal songs that I love most, and your rendition is simply beautiful. Christmas 2020 was the (first) pandemic Christmas. Did the circumstances of that year lead to your choosing to record and release this, as, for many of us, the year and season were bleaker than most?
HB: The weight of the pandemic was definitely a huge part of what made us decide on recording this song. Earlier that year, we were guests on a podcast and the host asked us to contribute a tune for the holiday episode. Our usual cheery favorites didn’t feel quite right in 2020. We landed on this after again looking at a list of public domain holiday tunes. It was certainly topical for the year and we’re really happy with how the final version sounds.
MB: Your arrangement of the song seems so heartfelt. Christina Rossetti’s lyric “Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow on snow” is so perfect. What was your approach to arranging this canonic song into a Honey Badgers’ tune?
HB: Thanks! Making something fit our specific folky sound is sometimes challenging, but always fun. We were originally playing this with a traditional 4/4 timing, then Michael jokingly started playing the song with the 6/8 guitar part that is on the recording. He was just messing around, playing it really fast and silly, but then we realized - wait a second, that sounds kinda cool! With that guitar part the song has a bit more movement, feels more hopeful, and maybe a little less solemn. After that it felt natural to fit in the rest of the folky instruments; Erin on violin, and Michael with the “tasteful” banjo. We can never resist doing a signature Honey Badger trade-off of verses, and ending with some sweet harmonies. “Snow on snow on snow” is our favorite part too, especially with Erin’s high harmony at the very end of the song.
MB: You’re really good at this Christmas-music thing. Do you have any other Christmas songs in the works? Merry and Bright totally supports more Honey Badgers holiday music 😃
HB: You’re too kind! I think we’ve finally almost recovered from releasing a full length (non-Christmas) album this past June, so maybe it’s time to start thinking about our next project… maybe a “Christmas with The Honey Badgers: Part 2” next year? Stay tuned! Speaking of the new album, there are a few songs on it that could be fun for this time of year: “Bring With You Nothing”, our ode to community and being there for each other, and “She Awakes”, a reminder that out of the dark winter comes new life and light.
MB: Erin & Michael – thanks again for your time and your music. Have a very happy holiday season!
HB: Thanks so much for the interview! Have a great holiday ❄
Saint Nick is a new holiday release from jazz pianist Nick Bhalla. Hailing from Minneapolis, Nick describes his music (on his Bandcamp site) as "sad jazz". While his arrangements are more solemn and serene than, say, rousing New Orleans style jazz, his song selections for Saint Nick are perfect fits for his reserved piano lounge style.
"Saint Nick" album cover art
A particular favorite of mine from the album is "My Favorite Things". Nick begins this piece with the classic song from "The Sound of Music" that has made its way into the Christmas music canon*, and skillfully segues into the beautiful "Edelweiss". It's a lovely performance.
Saint Nick is eight contemporary Christmas carols, including the fine selections "The Christmas Waltz", "Christmastime is Here" and "Toyland" alongside standards "White Christmas" and "The Christmas Song". Nick's interpretations and performances are excellent, making for a very enjoyable addition to 2024's new Christmas releases.
Please enjoy Nick Bhalla performing "Christmastime is Here"
Four songs from Saint Nick are available on all streaming platforms, but the entire Saint Nick album is available exclusively on Bandcamp. If you enjoy what you hear, please consider purchasing the album and supporting an independent musician with a few of your holiday dollars. Der Bingle thanks you for supporting independent music.
* It's taken me a while to come around, but yes, I now consider "My Favorite Things" to be a Christmas song. If Tony Bennett sings it for Christmas, then it is.
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