Fame or Famine

The Holiday Season is upon us. I confess to having mixed feelings about this; it’s the first holiday season after some pretty major changes in my life, and I always tend to get a little burned out by the crass commercialism that sweeps our nation this time of year.

That being said…I love music, dance, beauty, and there is a lot of that around, you just have to look a little harder to find it, past the plastic nativities and the canned music.

The next few entries are going to be dealing with some of the “variations” in holiday celebrations and arts. I’d love to hear your suggestions as well – we all need something to do on Christmas besides just sit and watch endless re-runs of A Christmas Story and It’s a Wonderful Life (not that they’re not great – but 24 hours of them? Come on!)

First off, a couple of alternatives to your usual holiday music:

Handel’s Messiah A Soulful Celebration

This became one of my favorite listening treats every year. It’s best if you can actually sit and listen to the whole thing, beginning to end – by the final chorus you will be jumping up and down with exhilaration – but on the whole, it makes fine background music as you trim the tree, as well. Gladys Knight, Al Jarreau, Johnny Mathis – some real Gospel greats are here, and I can’t recommend it enough.

Holiday Lounge: the Christmas Remixes
This may be a bit techno for some, but it takes the hip-hop skills of remixing and sampling and brings a fresh sound to some really old faves like Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong & Velma Middleton, Mel Tormé…the classics, but taken out of the elevator and given new life.

Tomorrow we’ll talk about dances…

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