Very Chaise Lounge Christmas

Christmasville USA This is Chaise Lounge's take on Jimmy Charles' hit. A song that is rarely covered and certainly never done with such panache. Gary Gregg's tone is period perfect, as is the overall groove. Marilyn Older somehow makes you throw down your defenses and completely believe in snowflake-light lines like jing, jing, jingle bells that ring on your street. Snow Day Charlie Barnett somehow has the ability to write songs that feel like instant classics. It is hard to believe this wasn't recorded by Brenda Lee or Peggy Lee or Sandra Dee or someone with a name like that from years past. The arrangement is also right out of a sixties Capitol Records session. The Man With The Bag. Marilyn Older takes this Kay Starr classic from the late fifties and smoothes it into a warm Christmas pudding. The whole thing feels just as silky and sultry as the very cool girl from upstairs in an ironic, yet sexy Santa hat at the office Christmas party. Gary Gregg's flute playing is gas. December 25 Again with the classic. This is a tune that will be covered in Christmases to come. John Jensen on trombone and Gary Gregg on tenor sax are in top form here. Tommy Barrick and Pete Ostle provide the perfect Christmas rhythm section sleigh for this happy ride down a snowy hill. The Little Drummer Boy The way the band slips in and out of swing time on this is nearly miraculous. Tommy Barrick, Chaise Lounge's own little drummer boy, is always stylish and spot on. He and Gary on clarinet, take a sixteen bar break that ebbs, flows and finally lands right where you never thought it could- right into the middle of the little drummer boy's floor tom. The Heart Of December This is beautiful. Another brand-new classic Christmas song. One that people will sing around their Christmas trees; at the table for Christmas dinner, and in front of the fire in December and maybe all the other months of the year. The quartet of Marilyn, Charlie on piano, Pete Ostle on bass and Tom Barrick on drums is supple and intuitive. Charlie's piano solo perfectly mirrors the song's crystalline imagery. Good King Wenceslas The old king is well loved and well served here. Charlie Barnett rarely gets noticed as an instrumentalist, but his acoustic guitar work on this is superb. And the slightly strange sci-fi nature of the song's story is accentuated by this quiet thoughtful arrangement. Lo, How A Rose E're Blooming This is an extraordinarily old Christmas hymn. This harmonization by Michael Praetorius dates to 1609, but the text is much older, dating perhaps back to the 13th century. Only Charlie and Pete play on this. And Marilyn's vocals retain the haunting, 800 year-old beauty of this song. Mister Santa How fun is this! Cool Yule This Steve Allen Christmas song has just about every groovy reference a cat could put into a thirty two bar song.