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Holiday compilations are always a grab-bag of songs and styles. Christmas in the Northwest 9, the annual northwest U.S. artist showcase benefiting several regional children's charities, is a prime example of the breed. Its 15 tracks-- mostly made up of traditional carols (but including a couple of nice new holiday songs by Katie Freeze)--allow for a wide variety of artistic interpretation, from toe-tapping acoustic vocal performances to smooth jazz instrumentals.

By now, everybody should know that I am a fan of both rock and acoustic female vocalists, and this CD is fairly loaded with these. Leading off is RyeHollow's Breanna Paletta, singing a beautiful alt rock version of I Saw Three Ships. Next up is Late Tuesday's Dana Little's minor-key ironic rendering of Up On The Housetop, followed by The First Noel performed by Eric Tingstad featuring Suzie Bradford and Terry Lauber.

Later on, Catherine Hessler impresses with a folk-pop vocal performance of Katie Freeze's How Many Angels. Slightly more rustic, singing in a style that reminded me just a little of Iris DeMent, was Ashleigh Flynn's percussively accompanied Little Drummer Boy. The Hope's Shelby Earl follows later on with another Katie Freeze tune Baby In a Manger. Then, there's Dirty Martini's Stephanie Schneiderman doing a nice acoustic turn on The Coventry Carol. And for finale there's a live recording of Brenda White's pop country vocals on Christmas In The Northwest.

My attention to such a diva bonanza necessarily short changes other notable performances by substantial artists, including the likes of Kenny G and Ian McFeron. They're great, too. What a line-up of groups, vocal stylists, and songs, even. Christmas in the Northwest 9 rocks.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2006)

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From the liner notes:

Executive Producer: Steve Lawson
Associate Producer: Alex Rosenstein
Web Design: Axis Studios, William Isenberger
Art Direction: Ann Rhodes, Rhodes-D-Signs
CD Mastering: Ed Brooks, RFI/CD Mastering
CD Replication: Kevin Veatch, www.veatchdesign.com
Public Relations: Richmond Public Relations, Hamilton McCulloh
Photographer: Rick Donovan, Donovan Photographics

Various Artists

Christmas in the Northwest 9

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Track List