Kenton: A Merry Christmas
One of the all-time great Christmas albums is A Merry Christmas by Stan Kenton. Recorded in 1961 at the peak of a classic period where he used the section of four Conn Mellophoniums, I 
had heard of this album but had never owned a copy until just a few days ago. The Mellophonium section sounds great (seriously! Very much like descant horns) and is very prominent in the arrangements. If you don’t own this album and are a fan of great jazz Christmas arrangements played by a great jazz band, buy it! I purchased it as an MP3 download for only $7.99.
There are other remake projects of these same arrangements, including the very recent version by the Boston Brass. Maybe I will treat myself to that next year; this year though the original version will be high on our Christmas music rotation.
[For an excellent article on the Stan Kenton Mellophonium section follow this link].
Best wishes to all for A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Be a 
Recent Comments