Ultimate Jazz Christmas, The - Various Artists

Advantages: 154 minutes of pure class music
Disadvantages: NONE, none none none none none

...What a cool cd. There isn’t much traditional jazz- as the CD explains – it’s a compilation of what jazz created – acid jazz, breakbeat, hip-hop and soul. All the songs on the 2 CDs (which both last 77mins – there is good value for money) are classics – some which you will instantly recognise , and some which you will recognise covers of. There are all sorts of artists on the double cd – you have modern artists like Jamiroquai and Brand New Heavies, and some really cool old artists – Bill Wyman’s there – singing “Just the Two of Us” (gorgeous), and Herbie Hancock with Chameleon. There are also 2 themes – Bob James - Angela (from Taxi) and James Taylor Quartet – theme from Starsky & Hutch (a damn cool theme tune). The blurb says “it’s jazz, soul, funk and hip-hop rolled into one. What you have here is a collection of its finest... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: variety
Disadvantages: none

...This is a huge collection. It consists of three cds and in total 45 tracks. It covers most of the popular jazz greats but is probably a little too main stream for any connoisseur of jazz in the true sense. The first cd is by far the best. It contains all the great tunes from the early years (Nat King Cole – “Let there be love..”, Louis Armstrong “Hello Dolly”, and Billie Holiday “That ole devil called love”). The second cd does not live up to the first. It moves on to 80’s jazz and loses its way somewhat, appealing to a listener different to that of the first cd. Personally I found it a little too esoteric. The final cd gains back the listeners attention with numbers like “Cantaloupe island” and “Moanin’” but the magic of the first cd is never recaptured.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Original songs, jazzed up classics.
Disadvantages: Can only really listen to at Christmas time.

...Ok, so a christmas album may not seem that novel an idea, but when you stop and consider it, very few artists make christmas albums these days, let alone one that is really good. As well as timeless classics such as "silent night", "white christmas" and "merry christmas baby", they have also written some new christmas songs which is a feat for ones so young. They have jazzed up all the old classics and put the hanson trademark on them. This is a very rare occurence in christmas CDs which should be given a listen!! Christmas with HANSON will make it all the more fun.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average off topic