Charlie Byrd Music

I've had a tape of this since it came out. The arrangements are more Byrd-like than his recent Christmas release, and therefore more fun (and musical). It's one of the few Christmas albums I play frequently every year without getting tired of it.

If you're looking for the bossa nova Charlie Byrd or the jazz artistry you're used too, this album might disappoint you a little. But if you want some really beautiful Christmas music played by a real artist, you'll love it. It is a quiet peaceful group of familiar tunes played with finesse and style. Buy it for next year - you won't be sorry.

This album exhibits the guitar artistry for which the late Charlie Byrd was known and loved. The album includes traditional seasonal music. It is a wonderful balance to another Christmas album by Byrd on the Columbia label released during the early 60s that showcases religious music of Christmas.

"Christmas Carols for Solo Guitar" is one of the best of seasonal albums. We purchased the original in 1966. It is a sleeper but the religious message helps retain the spiritual nature of the holiday. Thanks for bringing it out on disc after all these years!

I understand Charlie Byrd is a great jazz guitarist, but you'd certainly never know it from his Christmas albums. The song selections are OK run of the mill holiday fare, but there is nothing to set these tracks apart. The chord melody style is so banal as to be droning, the chord choices are too simplistic, and the technique is quite heavy-handed and overly loud. To put it bluntly, they all sound like a 6th grader playing at a recital. I accidentally put this disc on my iPod and during a shuttle play, one of the tracks came on, and the effect was quite jarring.

If you want some good-sounding Christmas guitar, try David Cullen, Tuck Andress, Joe Pass or Alex di Grassi.

Charlie Byrd's mello guitar sounds bring the best feelings of Christmas to me. I carry it with me from the car to the house so when I am feeling the holiday is all too commercial, I listen to this CD and remember what Christmas really is. Of course, the fact that I love Charlie Bryd's music may have something to do with this. Best Christmas albumn ever.

A Army buddy in Germany had this and I always loved it, but never could find it there, before I got shipped out. When I got back from Vietnam I drove clear to Denver to buy the LP. I thought it was the best Christmas record I had ever heard. I think there are two cd's out now, so get them both, you won't be sorry! I gave them to my sons also.

Finally Charlie Byrd's solo guitar carols are on CD! I had the LP and it inspired me to learn to play carols on my guitar. There are many solo guitar Christmas recordings, but this is the best--in fact, one of the best Christmas music recording, period! It sounds like someone's sitting in the corner, quietly playing. Though Byrd is known for jazz & bossa nova, he plays it straight, without fancy ornamentation. I heard Byrd in Annapolis years ago, and he was an outstanding musician. This is simply a wonderful recording.

SONG LIST

Disc 1

1. Desafinado ~ Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd
2. Cheek to Cheek ~ Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
3. Sophisticated Lady ~ Ben Webster
4. Don't Get Around Much Anymore ~ Nat King Cole
5. Satin Doll ~ Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra
6. It Never Entered My Mind ~ Miles Davis
7. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat ~ Charles Mingus
8. Body & Soul ~ Billie Holiday
9. Cantaloupe Island ~ Herbie Hancock
10. The Seventh Son ~ Mose Allison
11. Walk on the Wild Side ~ Jimmy Smith
12. My Favorite Things (part 1) ~ John Coltrane
13. Embraceable You ~ Sarah Vaughan
14. I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face ~ Sonny Rollins
15. The Sidwinder ~ Lee Morgan
Disc 2
1. Work Song ~ Cannonball Adderley
2. Comin' Home Baby ~ Herbie Mann
3. Basin Street Blues ~ Jack Teagarden
4. Stardust ~ Gerry Mulligan Quartest
5. Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Suiet Stars) ~ Jackie Cain & Roy Kral
6. Bumpin' on Sunset ~ Wes Montgomery
7. Waltz for Debby ~ Bill Evans Trio
8. Willow Weep for Me ~ Dinah Washington
9. Song for My Father ~ orace Silver Quartet
10. Every Day (I Have the Blues) ~ Count Basie & Joe Williams
11. Lover Man ~ Chris Connor
12. Stairway to the Stars ~ Dexter Gordon
13. Smmoth Sailing ~ Ella Fitzgerald
14. 'Round Midnight ~ Mel Torme and the Marty Paich Orchestra
15. Blue Monk ~ Thelonious Monk

This CD, that came out in the mid 1990s, was actually the result of several years worth of live performances a a NY Jazz club owned by Doug Duke in the late 1960s. Duke, who was a pretty good organist and keyboard player, made the master tapes when he sat in and jammed with the headliners at the club. Unfortunately, many of the tracks are Hammond Organ-heavy, and one is left wanting much more. Particularly with such legendary performers such as Roy Eldridge, Toots Thielemans, Coleman Hawkins, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Byrd and others. Even so, it's a solid sound, and can be enjoyed by casual jazz fans as well as collectors interested in the historical aspecs of the players' performances.