Chris O’Connor: Christmas Mardi Gras

So let me first say that I am not a music reviewer. I listen to almost every type of music. My preferences run more towards Blues or Classic Rock, but if you look at my Pandora stations I have everything from Metal to Opera, Folk to Funk. I know what I like and I have no problem saying that a song is horrible or amazing, but I realize that just because I like a particular type of song or don’t like a particular song it doesn’t make that music more or less valid.
With those disclaimers out of the way I will move on to what I really want to talk about. A few days ago I received a package in the mail all the way from Los Angeles, CA. Aren’t I the fancy one. I was completely stoked to find that my friend Chris O’Connor had sent me a copy of his new Christmas CD. Now, I know what some of you are thinking, “Christmas music, but it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet.” and normally I would totally agree with you, but because I have had the pleasure of working with Chris several times over the years on straight and musical theatre productions I was excited to get to hear his amazing voice coming through my speakers and popped it into the CD player.
Let me tell you, I was not disappointed. Both my BF and I were thrilled with this CD and even stated that this may be our new favorite for Christmas this year. The arrangements take classic songs like Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and Winter Wonderland and jazz them up a few notches. Chris’ voice is still that same lovely mix of silky, velvet wrapped around a rocking David Bowie circa 1970.
His jazz stylings of the melodies were beautifully handled and played so well with the backing players including Andrew Dreher on Bass, Kevin E Maloney on Keys, George McMullen on Trombone, Jim Wheeler on Sax, Ian Maloney on Drums and several other talented musicians. Along with holiday classics Chris included a few recognize-able Christmas tunes like, my favorite on the album, Zat You Santa Claus?, loving the mix of Tom Waits and Louis Armstrong so much on that tune, and You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch that brought out the kid in me and had me singing along in the car and grinning from ear to ear.
This album really brought a lot of holiday cheer to my day and I just had to share it with you all too. I can not recommend it enough. I am going to link to Chris’ site Chris O’Connor Christmas so that you can listen to the tunes and maybe even make a purchase. He has the entire album available on CD or as a digital download so that you can start enjoying the music right away. I know a lot of you out there are looking for a way to support independent artists and small businesses this holiday season and this would be a great way to do both.
I will most definitely be purchasing a few copies to send to family and friends who I know will make this album part of their Christmas celebrations this year and for years to come. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and a huge “Thank-you! XOXO” to Chris for thinking of us this holiday season and being so generous with his talents! I miss you buddy! Best wishes to you all this holiday season.
Thanks for reading!