...playing with determination and inventiveness...Eklund hammers home his credentials as a player emphatically.
"What is Crafty Christmas?" you may ask. Inspired by his sister's tradition of gathering with friends to make hand-crafted Christmas presents, the New York trumpeter, in the same spirit, created this recording as a gift to his parents. Properly unassuming and sweetly swinging, his quartet covers the familiar hymns and songs of the season, and is joined by vocalist Kevin-Anthony for season-perfect renditions of "The Christmas Song," and "I'll Be Home For Christmas." Eklund's original, "Two as One," written for his sister's wedding, creates a very appropriate coda to a project that will hopefully inspire many others' Crafty Christmases!
Track Listing:
1. Winter Wonderland (5:37)
2. The Christmas Song (5:00)
3. Christmas Time Is Here (4:14)
4. Greensleeves (4:59)
5. O Come, O Come Emmanuel (7:19)
6. Let It Snow (5:16)
7. I'll Be Home For Christmas (5:06)
8. Silent Night (6:21)
9. Two As One (6:29)
Performers:
Nathan Eklund - trumpet & flugelhorn
Oscar Perez - Fender Rhodes & piano
Tom DiCarlo - bass
Shawn Baltazor - drums
Kevin-Anthony - vocals (on tracks 2&7)
Production Info:
Produced by Nathan Eklund
Recorded & mixed by Nathan Eklund
Recorded Sept 29, 2011 at Fontaine Studios, Bloomfield, NJ
Mastered by Paul Wickliffe at Skyline Productions, Warren, NJ
Cover Design & layout by John Bishop
Reviews of Crafty Christmas
Urban Flux (Rob Young)
As we approach the upcoming Christmas Season holiday music is beginning to emerge impeccably with expected side effects of cheer that fills the air with a fragrance draped in the spirit of love, peace and hope. Maybe it�s by happenstance regardless of our condition for our pleasure these sounds arrive with the sole purpose of inspiring us at this t ...
The Davis Enterprise (Derrick Bang)
Trumpeter/flugelhorner Nathan Eklund organized the recording sessions that produced �Crafty Christmas� (OA2 Records OA2 22096) as a holiday gift to his parents; I�m pleased that he elected to grant the project mainstream distribution.
Eklund leads a quartet � joined by Oscar Perez, Fender Rhodes and piano; Tom DiCarlo, bass; and Shawn Baltazor, ...
Midwest Record (Chris Spector)
The title is an inside joke among the Eklund clan, the music isn't. Another in a recent wave of tasty, original Christmas albums, this jazz holiday is the kind of gathering I'd like to be invited to. With Eklund's trumpet leading the way on a familiar set of musical, holiday comfort food, the schmaltz has been trimmed off the meat and here's th ...
