ISO: HOLIDAY Dinner Music Favorites!

[Natasha]

I m back with another dinner music question.

Do you have any musical selections (either particular recordings or types of music) that you like to use specifically for holiday dinner parties, Christmas dinner, holiday open houses, whatever? I would love to know about them. Thanks in advance.

[This message has been edited by Natasha (edited 11-28-2000).]

[LGBurns]

Without a doubt my favorite Christmas dinner music is the soundtrack from the "Charlie Brown Christmas Special." I know that may sound crazy, but it's actually great piano jazz. Very relaxing. Plus, so many people have such positive connotations with it that it never fails to bring smiles to people's faces.

[kwormann]

Also Charlie Brown CHristmas, along with Harry Connick Jr and Bing Crosby!

kim

[jjf]

another vote for harry connick jr and bing crosby - i also love glenn miller orchestra in the mood. oh, and frank sinatra is good too.

jen

[Susan]

Another Charlie Brown fan here! We enjoy both the orginal and George Winston's renditions. My other holiday favorite is George Winston's December.

~~Susan~~

[jjf]

question for the charlie brown fans - i just went to find it on amazon.com and there are 2 cds to choose from. do you guys have the original soundtrack or the one by cyrus chesnut?
thanks

jen

[Natasha]

Oops, forgot to mention some of my own favorites:

Glenn Miller/Big Band anything - though I use these selections year round
Charlie Brown - along with everyone else http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif
Handel s Messiah
Beethoven s 9th
Christmas Concerto
Vivaldi s the Four Seasons
anything with harp, flute, etc.
all the old LPs I grew up with (some are kind of scratchy now) http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif - some have traditional carols sung by high-profile and lower-profile choirs; some have less traditional carols and songs

I know I m missing some!!

P.S. I logged back online to add this post because I m procrastinating; I don t feel like preparing for my presentation at school! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/redface.gif

[This message has been edited by Natasha (edited 11-28-2000).]

[LGBurns]

jen: I have the original soundtrack with Vince Guaraldi.

[SandyDee]

Ihave a few I really prefer. I like Harry Connick Jr. I am also a big fan of Aaron Neville's "Soulful Christmas",and "A Tenors Christmas with Domingo, Pavorotti and Carreras. I Also have a Sampler from The Nature Company from Christmas a few years back. I absolutely love it. A variety of musical styles and many with the sound of nature interspesed with the music.

[kwormann]

we also have the original Charlie Brown...
Also have Canadian Brass christmas cd..it is quite pretty!

kim...I just LOVE this time of year!!!!

[wendylee]

I like the classics - Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole. For parties, I like to mix the music up a bit, with Jimmy Buffet's Christmas CD, Bruce Cockburn (one of my favorites) and the benefit CD "A Very Special Christmas".

[emilycat]

I'm going to have to look in to this Charlie Brown album; it sounds great.

Hands down, though, I love love love Mannheim Steamroller... I'd listen to it year round, but I'd feel silly! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

Emily

[mlou]

This Charlie Brown thing is too funny. I have been spending some time at Home Depot the past few days, and that is what they are playing---I thought it was really nice http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gifand different!

[AndreaU]

Again, Charlie Brown. A timeless classic! Also, I love Nat King Cole's Christmas album with "The Christmas Song" (chestnuts roasting on an open fire...). For something upbeat, try the Beach Boys Christmas album. The Chieftains have a nice one called "The Bells of Dublin" if you like music with an Irish flair (I've been known to listen to it when it's not the holidays).

[CHRIST1NE]

emilycat, I agree with your vote for Mannheim Steamroller.... and I do listen to it all year round! They are excellent. My very favorite is their 1984 CD with the yellowish xmas tree on the cover. And, my very favorite song from that CD is track 10 I believe, the second rendition of God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman - it's the one with all the base sounds - sounds great really loud.

Go ahead and listen to it all year if you want - Christmas is a state of mind http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[Vanessa]

Hi. With Xmas coming and dinners I was just thinking of a CD mix. Well I like Mannenheim Steamroller Christmas in the Aire
I got 3 or so medleys of the best of Xmas.While having dinner I prefer instrumental and as a background. But before or after music is fine. I also like Spanish Xmas songs because they make you feel like dancing.
The Typical English songs would be Bing Crosby, NKing Cole, Placido Domingo, Tony Bennet, A Williams ....

[SandyM]

I love the "classics" - Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, most especially Dean Martin ("It's a Marshmallow World in the City!"). I'm also recalling watching a Bing Crosby Christmas special from the 70's, where Bing and David Bowie did an incredible version of Little Drummer Boy. I bought a CD with that song on it. The rest of the CD is awful, but that one song is worth the price. Jimmy Buffet also does a respectable version of Mele Kalikimaka!

[MaryH]

I have a benefit one put out a few years ago called "Jazz to the World" (I think that's the title) with a lot of stellar jazz musicians. My favorite cut is Dianne Reeves and Lou Rawls singing "Baby Its Cold Outside". Other favorites are Handels' Messiah (yes the WHOLE thing, that comes from my father playing it every Sunday) and the Time-Life Treasury of Christmas (4 CDs) with all the classics - Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Elvis, Dolly Parton, Julie Andews - Joy to the World, you name it, they're on there).

[Kristi]

I love Brenda Lee's Christmas album (reminds me of being a little girl and decorating the tree!) as well as The Nutcracker.

[LGBurns]

Another album I love from my childhood is the Robert Shaw Chorale "Many Moods of Christmas." This is all beautiful choral music. I love to listen to it when I'm decorating the tree. I didn't mention it before, because it's not that great for during dinner--the volume changes enormously. I remember one part of the album where the song is very quiet (I can't remember now which song it is) so it inevitably gets turned up. Then Joy to the World comes on and it practically knocks you out of your chair. Funny to watch, but not great for a relaxing dinner.

[lorilei]

Now, Frank Sinatra will always win a place in my CD player during the holidays and John Pizzarelli can also hang out tableside if he'd like http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

But I have a couple of unexpected favorites hanging around my house:

A beautiful rendition of the Nutcracker Suite done by a MANDOLIN QUARTET (this is absolutely superb!)

Jewel's Christmas album is actually quite nice -- mellow enough for background music and it contains some nice old favorites.

And... suprise! The Christmas albums thrown together by EDDIE BAUER (of all places) are just plain cute. Lots of old favorites and very good renditions at that. Will keep you warm in the cold!

Now that I sound like a big advertisement, I think I'll sneak back to work http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[BarbaraL]

My husband is a Christmas music fanatic, so we have tons of Christmas music. I love the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas CDs (we have all of them); I also love the Carpenters Christmas album (although many people prefer instrumental only for dinner music). When I was a kid, we used to listen to Christmas albums put out by Firestone (the tire people); they had a big red ribbon and bow printed across the album cover -- I should dig them out of my mom's house -- probably scratched to death, but such memories!

[Gail]

We inherited my mother-in-law's collection of Christmas LPs-- so we have some circa 50's stuff (Perry Como...to the Messiah) I happen to be partial to Nat King Cole, but I also get a kick out of Bing Crosby's slightly corny but classic circa '40s Christmas album. I've got a couple of neat albums which are the Nutcracker and other Christmas favorites played by a Porter Music Box, which I very much like to play when the house smells of spice and pine, the tree is aglow and the fireplace is blazing. Last year I was given a Kenny G CD which has a really neat salute to the 20th century by means of historic radio broadcasts and I bought kind of an interesting CD called "A Composer's Christmas" a compilation of Christmas songs as they might have sounded if written by Vivaldi, Chopin, Beethoven, and many others.

Say-- if anyone has any music which conjures up Dickensian Christmas scenes, let me know. I would LOVE to get my hands on it!

[This message has been edited by Gail (edited 11-29-2000).]

[diane]

Well, I don't see any country music CD's so I would like to suggest two CD's. Even though they are by country artist, the songs don't have a country sound. I like these b/c they are very traditional songs and sung like the original. Not alot of extra sound and background singing-just pure, true Christmas carols. They are by John Berry and Martina McBride. I don't know the names of the CDs (I am at work) but they are truely great.
Diane

[Wendy w]

May I suggest the Kenny G. Christmas cd? It is all instrumental and very relaxing - great dinner music. I will definitely have to try the Charlie Brown Christmas.

I love Messiah too and my roommate and I play the Elvis Christmas on Christmas morning while we are getting ready to go to our respective families. My sister likes to play Jingle Cats to annoy my brother in law, but it is not a recommendation.

WEndy

[emilycat]

Gosh, I can't believe I forgot the Nutcracker! I love to listen to the entire score, and get wistful sometimes listening to it; it was probably my favorite ballet ever to perform in.

Nutcracker lovers -- which is your favorite piece? I love Dance of the Snowflakes and Spanish the best, I think (I love them all! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif )

By the way, Barbara and other Mannheim aficiandos -- how many Christmas albums do they have? I only have three.

Emily

[BethR]

Originally posted by venus:
SandyM--Bing and Bowie?! I must hear this! What album is it on?

venus -- I don't know about the soundtrack from that particular show, but I do have a collection called "The Coolest Christmas" published in 1994, that contains the Bing/Bowie duet, which is awesome. It has some other Christmas songs I like including the Alarm's "Happy Christmas." Alas, it also has "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" which I really don't like -- I just skip over it!

I'm a big fan of "Charlie Brown Christmas" -- it just wouldn't be Christmastime for me without hearing it. We also have a Big Band Christmas CD and "Smokey Mountain Christmas" which we really like.

Beth

[Colleen]

I really like Nat King Cole's christmas CD. I also listen to Harry Connick Jr. and I just ordered Charlotte Church's new CD, Dream a little Dream (I think that's what it is called)

[venus]

SandyM--Bing and Bowie?! I must hear this! What album is it on?

I love Handel's Messiah--every single bit of it. I sang in a production of it (chorus, nothing special) so it has great memories for me. For other classical, I like the Nutcracker and a Christmas Album that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir put out. The old favorites--Sinatra, etc, are great. I also like Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas album and PEte Seeger's christmas album--which I don't think you can buy anymore.

My dad and I listen to Elvis' christmas every christmas morning while we're drinking hot chocolate and opening presents, but I don't know if it's quite right for dinner http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

[SandyM]

Thanks Beth. That's the CD I was referring to.

[S]

My favorite Christmas CD is by Larry Carlton. He is a jazz guitarist who has played on alot of Steely Dan albums. I highly, highly recommend this CD.

[SandyM]

Russ Freeman (of the Rippingtons) has a great holiday CD too. Mellow jazz guitar - good for dinner parties.

[venus]

Thank you Sandy and Beth. I'll see if they have it in the christmas music bin while I'm shopping for the holidays. It looks like I need to listen to some Mannheim steamroller too, since they seem to be so popular.

[sunbrie]

Thanks to everyone for suggesting the Charlie Brown Christmas Cd. I picked it up this morning and it is great! By the way, what type of music is Mannheim Steamroller?

[SandyM]

What do you guys think - I'm inclined to call Mannheim Steamroller "new age", but then again, I'm not a fan of theirs. It's all a matter of taste, I guess.

[emilycat]

I'm not sure I would call them "new age"; that makes me think of Yanni, of whom I am not a fan. Maybe, though.

I would probably call them contemporary instrumental?

[sk8grl]

Thumbs up on all the great recommends! I heartily agree, especially with Charlie Brown Christmas and Harry Connick Jr.

Thought I'd add a few more of my favorites that I hadn't seen yet, all these make great holiday dinner music:

*Over The Rhine: "Darkest Night of the Year"

*Loreena McKennitt: "To Drive the Cold Winter Away"

*Amy Grant--"Tennessee Christmas" and the second one she did (can't remember name but it's good too)

*Benjamin Britten's "Ceremony of Carols" sung by the Vienna Boys Choir is also beautiful, if you enjoy choral music

*Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors" is a neat operetta that I love at Christmas, but I'm not sure how good it would be as background music for dinner

*And lastly, an amazing album if you can get your hands on it (it's discontinued, I had to get into a bidding war over it to buy for my dad last year!)--The Hampton String Quartet's "What if Mozart did Christmas?". A new family favorite!

[BeckyM]

Though these have already been mentioned, I have to put another vote in for George Winston's "December" CD and for Kenny G. I think I like these particularly well for parties because they're instrumentals. When I listen to Christmas music with vocals, I sometimes get so caught up in the music that I sing along (or at least sing along in my head) and can't focus on conversing with people. I prefer music with vocals (some old albums my parents have) for when I'm just hanging out with a cup of hot chocolate in the dark with just the Christmas tree lights on. I can't wait until we get our tree up this weekend!

[SandyDee]

I Don't have Kenny G's but I know I would love it. I also like Vince Gill's and George Strait's if we want to go country.From the sound of it I am going to have to hunt down A Charlie Brown Christmas.

[MaryH]

SandyDee

Make sure you get the original one by Vince Guaraldi (sp?). There are a number of other artists who have also recorded albums with that title. Should be in the jazz section of any well-stocked music store - my suggestion is Tower Records. (If you don't have one in your area, try www.towerrecords.com. (http://www.towerrecords.com.)

[andi]

I love Kenny G! My mother-in-law asks that we remove him from the CD player when she's there but oh well.
Love the Messiah as well-I was an alto in our community choir production and so sing along too. It makes the dog run for cover but I love cooking my Christmas treats and singing as loud as I want!
The rest is a mish-mash of collections. I hadn't thought of Charlie Brown in an awfully long time-brings back great memories!

[Natasha]

Thanks for all the suggestions and responses!! It sounds like we a lot of us share common tastes in holiday music.

Emily, you had asked about people s favorite parts of the Nutcracker: I generally prefer pretty much everything to the Nutcracker Suite because it s so much more overplayed. Really, though, I adore the whole thing. Do you (or anyone) have a favorite recording of the full Nutcracker?

[SandyDee]

MaryH. Thanks!! I found the original sound track from A Charlie Brown Christmas this morning and am listening to it as I respond. You were all right. I LOVE it. It certainly does bring a smile to your face. The warm fuzzies so to speak. May be as good as comfort foods... I said MAYBE!

[SandyDee]

Sorry I had trouble posting AGAIN and it posted twice. Every now and then I post and it doesn't show up and then I repost and it shows up twice. Go figure.

[This message has been edited by SandyDee (edited 12-03-2000).]

[JeanneW]

Back to the Mannheim Steamroller question about what kind of music they play - I think they call it 1800's rock and roll. Odd term but it seems to fit.

They're from the Omaha area so we always get their concerts between Christmas and New Year's. It's perfect. I've never been to a
concert where I didn't cry. Their music is beautiful! My favorite is Carol of the Bells.

But I gotta love Charlie Brown too!

[MaryH]

For all of you Charlie Brown fans out there, the original CD is at our local Starbucks as well, so you might look there if you need to pick one up.