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Our Review

The Ken Foster Trio is a top-notch jazz ensemble that truly knows its way around holiday music. Two years ago, this site reviewed O' Christmas Trio, an excellent album that hit all the right notes with warm and winning jazz interpretations of seasonal favorites. These three talented guys (Ken Foster on piano/keyboards, Brian Foster on bass, Bob Macart on drums) now follow that success with A Holly Jolly Christmas, another dozen oh-so-tasty jazz treats for the holidays.

First, let's consider the superficial. The first impression one receives of any album is its cover, and the Ken Foster Trio has two of the best around. Both O' Christmas Trio and A Holly Jolly Christmas share superb, whimsical cover graphics by Scott Jarrard (www.scottjarrard.com).

Now let's look under the cover. The trio presents twelve appealing tracks, all well-known secular holiday chestnuts. Although everything is jazz, the styles vary slightly from cut to cut. Some pieces carry an island flavor (with Macart providing terrific percussive flourishes); at least one leans towards a western theme ("A Holly Jolly Christmas"). Everything is professionally executed with tremendous musicianship and style.

My favorite tracks here include a delightful "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town," which features an inventive "In the Mood" opening, the richly rewarding "Deck the Halls," the bluesy piano licks on "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas," and the boogie-woogie "Rockin Around the Christmas Tree." Probably best of all, is the incredibly delicate "Good King Wenceslas"--just excellent! My least favorite aspect of this album is its piddling length; at just over 32 minutes, A Holly Jolly Christmas ends way too soon!

If the Ken Foster Trio wants to release a seasonal album each and every year, the holiday music world would definitely be a better place. A Holly Jolly Christmas is an upbeat and lively jazz album sure to impress!

--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2005)

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From the liner notes:

The Ken Foster Trio
Ken Foster: Piano/KeyBoards
Brian Foster: Bass
Bob Macart: Drums

From the Web site:

From the days of playing garbage cans in our garage, to performing across the country with various groups, we have always loved to play.

Forming the Ken Foster Trio has been a dream most of my life, but finding the right musicians to work with has been the hardest challenge.

I met Bob MacArt my drummer in the early 70's, and fell in love with his effortless, and incredibly tasteful drum playing. He is a master, and I believe is the finest drummer in Utah, if not the entire country.
Brian Foster I recruited away from Las Vegas where he and his group were the opening act at the MGM. You might think that it was an easy sale, since I was his brother. . . but it still took a few years to convince him to join my band. Since he has worked with me most of my life, he has an instinctive feel of my playing style, which I haven't been able to duplicate with any other bass player ever. . .

We have spent most of our time over the years working in the studio and playing for some incredibly talented singers and performers. It has only been recently that we began to produce and release our own music. We hope you enjoy the variety. We love most styles of music, and have incorporated them into our various CD's and performances.

The Ken Foster Trio

A Holly Jolly Christmas

Artist link

Track List