MP3 MJP - Jazzy Christmas

A compilation of four Christmas carols performed in a jazzy style. Jingle Bells, Silent Night, Adeste Fideles and We Wish You A Merry Christmas. Enjoy these popular Christmas tunes.

4 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Jazz-Pop, EASY LISTENING: Mood Music



Details:
Jingle Bells

"Jingle Bells", originally "One Horse Open Sleigh", is one of the best known and universally sung secular Christmas songs in the world. It was written by J. L. Pierpont in 1857 or earlier. The song has been translated into many languages.
Various stories of the song's origins give the place of composition as Savannah, Georgia, Boston or Medford, Massachusetts. An oft-repeated story is that he wrote it to be sung at a Thanksgiving program at his church in Savannah or Boston, but because of its instant popularity, it was sung again at the Christmas program. The copyright was granted in 1857, when Pierpont was serving as the organist for a Unitarian congregation in Savannah.
When it was at first published in 1857, Pierpont's song had a different chorus melody, which was more classical, even Mozart-like. The 1857 lyrics differed a little from those we know today. (The original words are given below in square brackets.) Unknown replaced the chorus melody and the words with those of the modern version.
In Ontario (Canada), law mandates sleigh bells, and people breaking the law are subject to a $5 fine. The law states: "Every person traveling on a highway with a sleigh or sled drawn by a horse or other animal shall have at least two bells attached to the harness or to the sleigh or sled in such a manner as to give an ample warning sound".
The "Jingle Bells" melody is used in French and German songs, although the lyrics are unrelated to the English lyrics. Both commemorate winter fun. The French song, titled Vive le vent ("Live the Wind"), was written by Francis Blanche and contains references to Father Time, Baby New Year, and New Year's Day. There are several German versions of "Jingle Bells"; the popular Roy Black version Christkindl and Christmastime.
A plaque commemorating the "birthplace" of "Jingle Bells" sits on the side of a building in the center of Medford Square in Medford, Massachusetts.

---> Santa's voice is by Kym Bidstrup a great actor living in Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Silent Night

"Silent Night" ("Stille Nacht") is a traditional and popular Christmas carol. The priest Father Josef Mohr wrote the original lyrics of the song Stille Nacht in German and the Austrian headmaster Franz X. Gruber composed the melody. The version of the melody that is generally sung today differs slightly (particularly in the final strain) from Gruber's original. Today, the lyrics and melody are in the public domain.
The carol was first performed in the Nicola-Kirche (Church of St. Nicholas) in Oberndorf, Austria on December 25, 1818. Mohr had composed the words much earlier, in 1816, but on Christmas Eve brought them to Gruber and asked him to compose a melody and guitar accompaniment for the church service.
It is believed that the carol has been translated into over 300 languages and dialects around the world, and it is one of the most popular carols of all time. It is sometimes sung without musical accompaniment. Although written by Catholics, it is given special significance in Lutheranism.
The most well known English translation of the carol is by Reverend J. F. Young, who served as the second Episcopal bishop of Florida.
The song was sung simultaneously in English and German by troops during the Christmas truce of 1914, as it was one of the few carols that soldiers on both sides of the front line knew.

Adeste Fideles

"Adeste Fideles" or "O Come All Ye Faithful" is a Christmas carol that is usually believed to have been composed by J. F. Wade in approximately 1743. Wade was a Catholic layman and a music teacher, who fled England after the Jacobite rebellion of 1745. He went to the English College, Douai which was a refuge for British Catholics after the abdication of James II in 1688. The words may therefore be attributed to Wade or to others, but certainly originate amongst exiled Jacobite Roman Catholics of the 1740s.
The Latin verses 1-3 and 6 were translated to English by F. Oakeley in 1841, with stanzas 4 and 6 being translated by W. T. Brooke. This translation was first published in Murray's Hymnal in 1852. F. Oakeley was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, and was ordained in 1828. In 1845, he converted from the Church of England to Roman Catholicism; he became canon at Westminster Cathedral in 1852.
The title "Adeste Fideles" is usually reserved for the Latin original, and "O Come All Ye Faithful" for the English translation.
It is sometimes referred to as the "Portuguese Hymn" as it was often sung in the Portuguese Embassy in London where V. Novello was organist, and who erroneously ascribed the tune to J. Redding. The lyrics and music of Adeste Fideles have also been attributed to King John IV of Portugal. It has also on occasions been erroneously attributed to the 13th century saint, Saint Bonaventure.
In the UK Sir D. Willcocks, published in the Oxford Carols for Choirs series, most often sing it today in an arrangement with a descant verse 6 and unison verse 7. It is the second-last hymn sung at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in King's College, Cambridge, after the last lesson from Chapter 1 of the Gospel of John.
The final verse (Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning...) is generally omitted before Christmas day, a notable exception being the traditional midnight mass, where the carol is often sung as the final hymn with the last verse included.
V. Hely-Hutchinson included this carol in the first and last movements of his Carol Symphony. F. Liszt wrote a transcription as the fourth movement of his Weihnachtsbaum cycle.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

"We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is a popular secular 16th century English carol from West Country of England. It is one of the few traditional holiday carols that makes mention of the New Year's celebration.

Lyrics

We wish you a merry Christmas; We wish you a merry Christmas;
We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Chorus

Good tidings we bring to you and your kin.
We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Oh, bring us a figgy pudding; Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer!

Chorus

We won't go until we get some; We won't go until we get some;
We won't go until we get some; so bring some out here!

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Jazzy Christmas is a compilation of well known Christmas songs, such as Jingle Bells, Adeste Fideles, Silent Night and We Wish You a Merry Christmas.
The group is formed by

Drums
Acoustic Bass
Piano
Trumpet

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Jingle Bells has a fast swing rhythm, while Adeste Fideles is a Bossa Nova.
Silent Night is a jazz ballad in a three quarter time and We Wish You a merry Christmas has a fast swing rhythm in a three quarter time.
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Jingle Bells is introduced by the wonderful voice of Kym Bidstrup.