Our Review
Like electricity moving through a bare wire, Christmas Magic, Jennifer Haines new CD of solo piano arrangments of traditional carols, is full of channeled energy. The emotional tension is controlled and directed, but audible in every note she plays. At the same time, there is a soothing quality to her play, because the tension is constant, the volume modulated, the force contained.
The choice of songs is apropos to her treatments, consisting entirely of "serious" Christmas carols, with Good King Wenceslas the most lighthearted of her selections. She chooses to open with a meandering arrangement combining Noël Nouvelet with Veni, Veni, Emanuel. Meandering as a river, contemplative, and deep with power and meaning.
Christmas Magic is notable in its ability to maintain its intensity through fifteen songs and fifty minutes. Though not lighthearted, neither is there any hint of darkness. Pensive, but positive, Jennifer Haines guides the listener down a powerful but slow-moving river of traditional refrains, offering both comfort and contemplation in full measure.
--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2006)
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From the liner notes:
All arrangements written and performed by Jennifer Haines
Art Design/Watercolor by Jennifer Haines
Produced by Jennifer Haines
Mastered by John Scrip at Massive Mastering
Jennifer Haines
Christmas Magic
Artist site
Label: US Four Music
Length: 49 minutes
Genre: Piano
Release: 2006
Track List
| Song Title |
|---|
| Noël Nouvelet/Veni, Veni, Emanuel |
| Un Flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle |
| Cantique de Noël (O Holy Night) |
| God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen |
| Still, Still, Still |
| The Coventry Carol |
| Carol Of The Bells |
| It Came Upon A Midnight Clear |
| The First Nowell |
| Angels We Have Heard On High |
| Stille Nacht |
| What Child Is This |
| Three Kings Of Orient |
| Good King Wenceslas |
| O Little Town Of Bethlehem |