Our Review
The Eller/Martin Christmas Project features piano/guitar duets for the season. JanElaine Eller is the pianist, and Chip Martin handles the guitar; these talented individuals make beautiful music together on this excellent seasonal release.
The piano and guitar are perfect partners for duets. Neither instrument overwhelms the other; instead, they interact in well-balanced dialogues. In the hands of these fine musicians, the resulting conversations are a pleasure.
The rich, acoustic tapestries cover very familiar holiday ground, conveying a contemplative, new-age vibe along the way. After a frustrating day of difficult work projects, this is the antidote. The Eller/Martin Christmas Project will help you throw off life's pedestrian burdens so that you can relax and embrace the best parts of the season. Can you believe it? Christmas will be upon us in the blink of an eye. So close those weary eyes, and absorb the pastel colors generated by Eller's piano and Martin's guitar. I particularly enjoyed the oh-so-gentle rendition of Silent Night; it is a reverential lullaby, with the piano and guitar alternating the melody line.
From the opening notes of the cheerful I Saw Three Ships to the closing bars of the buoyant We Wish You a Merry Christmas, The Eller/Martin Christmas Project is a holiday release that is life-affirming and easy to love. Thank you, JanElaine Eller and Chip Martin, for sharing your musical partnership project-it's a keeper!
--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2009)
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NOTE! This release has two versions: the 8-track EP (2008) and the 13-track full-length CD (2009).
From the liner notes:
Jan Elaine Eller: Piano
Chip Martin: Guitar
Produced: Chip Martin Producitons, Nashville, TN
JanElaine Eller and Chip Martin are pleased to bring you this CD for Christmas. JanElaine and Chip have worked together for more than ten years, writing, performing, producing three of JanElaine's cds, and generally supporting each other through the sludge and stress of growing and finding their own musical footprint (Chip even married one of JanElaine's best friends!). But for this season it was nice to have the freedom to take a break, sit down, and just play some songs, simply arranged for the instruments they know best, with nothing more in mind than putting something peaceful and easy into a world that at the moment didn't seem to be any of those things.
Renowned pianist, JanElaine Eller, partners with Nashville producer and guitarist extraordinaire, Chip Martin, to turn out an 8 track EP of some of the prettiest acoustic renditions of carols you'll ever hear. The music of this duo creates a truly exceptional and poignant gift for the season!
From the Website:
About JanElaine
When you first see her, you might expect the performance to match the pretty, petite, and gentle natured person. Then she sits at a piano, and suddenly nothing is what you expected. The powerhouse performances of this 5'1, 100 pound woman resonate the chords of your very soul. No one hears her play without being profoundly affected. That's JanElaine. She takes you places.
JanElaine Eller & Chip Martin
The Eller/Martin Christmas Project
Artist link
Label: Eagle's Song Productions
Length: 44 minutes
Genre: New Age
Release: 2009
Track List
| Song Title |
|---|
| I Saw Three Ships |
| We Three Kings |
| Carol of the Bells |
| It Came Upon a Midnight Clear |
| Good King Wenceslas |
| Away in a Manger |
| What Child Is This |
| Sing We Now of Christmas |
| Silent Night |
| The First Noel |
| The Coventry Carol |
| Angels We Have Heard on High |
| We Wish You a Merry Christmas |