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about
When I was a Quaker kid 45 years ago in Annapolis MD, there was a man who would stand up before the rise of meeting for worship every year at Christmas and sing, in a rich baritone, his a capella rendition of "O Holy Night." Much to the mirth of my mom and my aunt, he would crescendo into the high note on the words "O night divine" with a dramatic intensity that may have missed the mark, I don't remember. But for him, the song was a heartfelt devotion to the Christchild, his delivery completely free of irony. Some in the meetinghouse may actually have wiped away a tear.
Panorama often gets called for Holiday gigs at this time of year so, over time, we've developed a pretty good book of the "old chestnuts." On this one we hand off the lead role to New Orleans trombonist Colin Myers of the Jumbo Shrimp Jazz Band. With chord changes outlined by the clarinet and the banjo hitting beats 2 and 4, Colin pulls out the plunger mute to swing the line with a gutbucket strut.
After one time down, however, we experience an abrupt vibe shift to find ourselves in a classy jazz club. Doug goes to the ride cymbal and Matt lays down a walking bass line as Aurora recaps the melody on alto sax followed by Michael on accordion. When I take my turn on clarinet, Mark goes to a boogie shuffle on the banjo before Colin takes it back, building to that very same climactic high note our Friend had reached for in Quaker meeting. Still without irony, mind you, Colin brings it in with perhaps a bit more mastery and certainly a sense of funky fun.
Merry Christmas!
Ben Schenck
Panorama Jazz Band
New Orleans, LA
credits
from
Song-of-the-Month Club: Good Music For You,
track released December 15, 2018
Panorama Jazz Band feat. Colin Myers
Colin Myers - Trombone
Ben Schenck - Clarinet
Aurora Nealand - Alto saxophone
Michael Ward-Bergeman - Accordion
Mark Rubin - Tenor banjo
Matt Perrine - Tuba
Doug Garrison - Drums
Music by Adolphe Adam (PD)
Arrangers - Ben Schenck, Colin Myers
Published by Snack Daddy Music (ASCAP)
Recorded, edited, mixed and mastered by Lu Rojas at Oak Street Recording, New Orleans, LA
Cover photo Greg Miles
Photo of Colin Myers by Chantal Bianca Schoenherz
Graphic design by Ben Schenck
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