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Our Review

Mark Russo is an excellent jazz/new age/classical musician, and he puts those many talents to good use in his 1990 release Instrumental Christmas. Russo's more recent holiday album (Season's Silhouette) is also reviewed on this site and has many similar traits. There are at least two important distinctions between the two releases. First, Instrumental Christmas leans towards the jazz side of new age music, whereas the newer album has a more classical bent. In addition, Season's Silhouette has a greater focus on ancient carols, and this album has more contemporary classics.

Instrumental Christmas is a very strong holiday release for those seeking jazzy new age music to create a lovely setting for any seasonal activity. The musicianship is excellent; well-informed, crisp, and clean. The arrangements are fun, sophisticated, and never dull. The ten tracks include one Mark Etheredge original ("Visions of Christmas"), which has a lilting modern melody line that reminds me of several ancient carols. I especially enjoyed the grunting bass clarinet on "Silver Bells" and the potpourri of sound effects on "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." Best of all, Russo's tenor sax solo on "White Christmas" (with its wonderful piano backdrop) will bring tears to your eyes.

Mark Russo's Instrumental Christmas may not win any awards for creative album titles, but it certainly should win your special consideration as an outstanding jazz/new age offering for the holiday season.

--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2005)

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From the liner notes:

Personnel:
Mark Russo: soprano, alto, tenor saxophones; flute; oboe; English horn; clarinet and bass clarinet
Mark Etheredge: piano, synthesizer and drum programming
Chris Miller: drums, percussion
John McCrea: guitar
Tom Poole: trumpet

Executive Producers: Mary and Mark Russo
Produced by Mark Russo, Rainer Gembalczyk and Mark Etheredge
Engineered by Rainer Gembalczyk

Mark Russo

Instrumental Christmas

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Track List