Hey, check out this great review of our "Christmas" CD. www.christmasreviews.com
"For anyone who adores great singing and first-class piano for the holidays, Garnett & Beverly's Christmas is to be cherished. It is simple, yet profound. Absolutely [+]Hey, check out this great review of our "Christmas" CD. www.christmasreviews.com
"For anyone who adores great singing and first-class piano for the holidays, Garnett & Beverly's Christmas is to be cherished. It is simple, yet profound. Absolutely gorgeous!
Christmas is even more special this year with Garnett & Beverly's new holiday release. Garnett Hundley and Beverly Daugherty are two women of faith and two powerful vocalists; here, they join with master pianist Rob Cook for a jazzy, new-age gem that is charming in construction and execution.
Garnett and Beverly both possess outstanding pipes, but the liner notes and the artists' Web site do not specify who-sings-what. I discovered the appropriate attribution for these excellent numbers only after checking directly with the artists themselves. Garnett's vocal range is huge (she can actually sing soprano, alto AND tenor!) and reflects surprising versatility. Beverly also sings with exceptional richness and texture. Together, these two ladies are terrific, creating an offering that is excellent (albeit too short at under 37 minutes) for the holidays.
The album opens grandly with the "O Come" medley, a blend of "O Come, All Ye Faithful" and "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." The first carol belongs to Garnett, who opens with an a cappella crystalline call before adding layers of heavenly harmony. As her voice recedes, Cook's extraordinary piano takes center stage, playing over the vocal layers to establish "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." On this second carol, Garnett begins to sing again, but this time the women trade verses, ending with exquisite harmonies that float above Cook's delicate piano stylings. The effect is breathtaking, and the number's overall intricacies make it one of the finest holiday medleys I have ever heard!
This Christmas album is consistently glorious. The second track is Thad Jones' inspirational "A Child Is Born," the always wonderful "Coventry Carol" is especially winning here, Cook cleverly creates a piano drum on the bouncing "Little Drummer Boy," and Garnett's "Mary Did You Know?" is an emotive delight. My favorite piece, however, has to be the outstanding "In the Bleak Midwinter with Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" combination; Garnett presents the first carol a cappella before
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