Big Band Magazine - Magazine - Page 12
Christmas Cheer
WITH A BIG BAND TWIST
By Martin Eaton
Christmas comes but once a year, as someone once said. I've compiled a list
of some of my favourite Big Band Christmas numbers, in no particular order.
The Man With The Bag (Kay Starr)
This was a song co-written by Kay Starr's husband at the time, Hal Stanley.
Kay Starr's career started with the big bands of Charlie Barnet and (briefly)
Glenn Miller in the 1930's. By 1950 she had become a major star in her own
right and recorded The Man With The Bag, taking her back to her big band
roots.
A brassy intro brings Kay to the microphone as she sings in a relaxed manner,
in a loping two beat style, with the occasional musical stab from the brass
and saxes. Lyrics such as 'Old Mister Kringle is soon gonna jingle' and 'Make
this December the one you'll remember', give you an idea of this ode to
Santa Claus. After the first time through, the band changes key with some
rather unlikely bebop double tempo phrases from the trumpets (a jazz style
still around in 1950). We modulate back to the original key for Kay to
reappear, with some excellent bluesy phrasing, and we swing happily to a
big finish.
Carol Of The Bells (Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band)
We move from 1950 into the 21st century and the arranging genius of
Gordon Goodwin. Gordon's day job is writing for movies including The
Incredibles, Avengers 2 & Star Trek Nemesis. The Big Phat Band is his hobby,
where he composes and arranges for some of the top session musicians in
California including, the sax wizard, Eric Marienthal and the doyen of lead
trumpeters, Wayne Bergeron.
In Goodwin's hands, Carol Of The Bells morphs from its normal waltz time to
a definite 6 in the bar. It's a well-known fact that musicians can only count
up to 4, so it is a challenging chart to play.
