A Merry Christmas!

A Merry Christmas!
Studio album by Stan Kenton
Released	1961
Recorded	February 21 and March 14 & 20, 1961 Goldwyn Studios, Hollywood, CA
Genre	Jazz
Label	Capitol T/ST 1621
Producer	Lee Gillette
Stan Kenton chronology
Kenton's West Side Story (1961) A Merry Christmas! (1961) The Sophisticated Approach (1961)

A Merry Christmas! is an album of Christmas music by the Stan Kenton Orchestra recorded in 1961 and released by Capitol Records.[1][2][3] It was reissued as Kenton's Christmas in 1970 by Kenton's own Creative World label.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[5]

The Allmusic review by Matt Collar noted A Merry Christmas is a polyphonic masterpiece that is at once progressive and traditional. ...Featuring Kenton's idiosyncratic style of arranging piercing trumpets over a wooly blanket of trombones and mellophones, this is beautiful, forward-thinking and angular music that addresses both complex classical harmony and Basie-style swing".[4]

Track listing

1. "O Tannenbaum" - 1:58
2. "The Holly and the Ivy" - 1:52
3. "We Three Kings of Orient Are" - 2:14
4. "Good King Wenceslas" - 1:45
5. "The Twelve Days of Christmas" - 4:07
6. "Once in Royal David's City" - 2:04
7. "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" - 1:46
8. "O Come, All Ye Faithful" - 3:17
9. "Angels We Have Heard on High" - 2:11
10. "O Holy Night" - 2:10
11. "Christmas Medley: Joy to the World/Away in a Manger/The First Noel/We Wish You A Merry Christmas/Silent Night/Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" - 8:24
12. "What is Santa Claus?" - 2:12

• Recorded at Goldwyn Studios in Hollywood, CA on February 21, 1961 (tracks 7-11), March 14, 1961 (tracks 1, 3, 5 & 11) and March 20, 1961 (tracks 2, 4 & 6).

Personnel

• Stan Kenton - piano, celeste, conductor
• Ernie Bernhardt (tracks 1, 3, 5 & 11), Bud Brisbois, Larry McGuire (tracks 2, 4 & 6), Bob Rolfe, Dalton Smith, Sanford Skinner - trumpet
• Bob Fitzpatrick, Paul Heydorff (tracks 1-6 & 11), Tommy Shepard (tracks 7-11) - trombone
• Jim Amlotte, Bob Knight (tracks 7-11), Dave Wheeler (tracks 1-6 & 11) - bass trombone
• Joe Burnett (tracks 7-11), Dwight Carver, Keith LaMotte (tracks 1-6 & 11), Gene Roland, Gordon Davison - mellophone
• Clive Acker (tracks 1-6 & 11), Albert Pollan (tracks 7-11), - tuba
• Pete Chivily - bass
• Artie Anton (tracks 1-7), Jerry McKenzie (tracks 1-6 & 11) - drums
• Larry Bunker - percussion
• Emil Richards - bells, percussion, vibraphone (tracks 1, 3, 5 & 11)
• Ralph Carmichael (tracks 1-7 & 9-11), Stan Kenton (track 8) - arranger

References

1. Vosbein, P. Stan Kenton Discography accessed June 9, 2016
2. Watts, R., Edwards, D., Eyries, P. and Callahan, M. Capitol Album Discography, Part 5: 600-2999 (1955-1968) accessed June 8, 2016
3. The Capitol Sessions of Stan Kenton: 1961
4. Collar, Matt. A Merry Christmas! Review at AllMusic. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
5. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 819. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.