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With so many new jazz CDs being released every week, you can trust Program and Music Director Marcellus Shepard to select the best new offerings. WEAA’s CD of the Month is carefully selected from hundreds of albums, and our hosts play selected tracks from the release throughout that month’s jazz programming. In addition, listeners have several opportunities throughout the month to win the CD and add it to their own collections.

December CD: The Count Basie Orchestra's "A Very Swingin' Christmas"

Happy Holidays from our family to yours! This month we will be featuring quite a bit of holiday cheer, including an incredible release from The Count Basie Orchestra titled, "A Very Swingin’ Christmas.” 

The release of the CD coincides with the 80th anniversary of the legendary Count Basie Orchestra. It also marks the first full-length holiday project in their incredible body of work. Classics from Jingle Bells to Winter Wonderland are reworked in the fine Basie fashion, under the direction of the trumpeter Scotty Barnhart. Barhart is a longtime member of the ensemble, produced by former Basie drummer Gregg Field.  

A few guests show up on here as well to make the season bright: NEA Jazzmaster, pianist Ellis Marsalis, the timeless Johnny Mathis and R&B Soul vocalist Ledisi. Two great arrangers come back to the fold in multi Grammy award-winning arrangers Sammy Nestico and Gordon Goodwin. They make the music extra festive for all to enjoy.

If you are looking for a holiday pick-me-up, then you can’t go wrong with our CD of the month, The Count Basie Orchestra's “A Very Swingin’ Christmas”.

 

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