Review and More

Our Review

Robert Mirabal's Pueblo Christmas is crazy good, if you enjoy avant garde music and have a passion for adventure! Wow, this holiday music is genuinely different, and it speaks the universal language of peace, hope, and joy. Excellent!

Mirabal is well known for crafting superb Native American flutes (visit his Website and take a look), and he is equally amazing as an award-winning musician. Mirabal composes, writes, and performs--he truly is a Native American "Renaissance Man."

If you are unfamiliar with Native American flutes, understand that they sound quite different than standard flutes. They have a very organic sound, almost like a living thing, and the sound flutters and sighs in a most evocative fashion. This album partners the flutes with a throaty cello and diverse percussion, quite the fascinating combo.

Except for two tracks, these are inspired instrumental interpretations of holiday favorites. The first "vocal" track is the rockin' original Green Chili Christmas, an addictive ditty with funky rounds of green chili and hot chili spilling over themselves in the closing bars. Very, very cool. Mirabal also includes his Taos Pueblo poem, a narrative about an elderly man who returns to celebrate on Christmas Eve, and while the words hold interest, the instrumentals carry more powerful "voices" for me. Familiar holiday fare is dramatically transformed into tribal visions. Angels We Have on High, for example, has a pounding tom-tom foundation for most of the carol, and the flutes float on top, sometimes creating atonal chords before the cello joins the show near the end. You can recognize the melody, but it slips in and out of more exotic clothes for this Pueblo Christmas. On God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, the cello features more prominently, and the cello and flute exchange excited coversations throughout the piece. Although it is tough to identify a favorite track in this unusual group, Silent Night is particularly compelling, with the soulful flute playing a gorgeous melody line above the solid cello framework.

As it turns out, I happened to be helping my daughter review U.S. history, specifically the colonization of the East Coast and the corresponding decimation of Native Americans in the process, when Pueblo Christmas came to my attention. Mirabel addresses this issue head on, and I admire his forthrightness. In fact, the liner notes point out the historical context for each piece, and the news is not pretty. Still, history is what it is, and humanity should learn from the past and always strive to be better as we move forward. And Christmastime is the perfect time for us to open our hearts and minds to other cultures and ourselves.

Robert Mirabal's Pueblo Christmas is a unique trip. It is not the right choice for all, but for many, it's a trip worth taking. Wonderful.

--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2007)

More

From the liner notes:

Produced by Robert Mirabal.
Engineered and mixed by Larry Mitchell.
Recorded at Taos Pueblo August 15 & 16, 2006.

All flutes and percussion by Robert Mirabal and Patrick Marabal.
Cello by Michael Kott.
All songs arranged by Robert Mirabal.

Track 1 written by Robert Mirabal and Robin Abeles.
Tracks 5 & 10 by Robert Mirabal and Patrick Mirabal.
Track 11 by Robert Mirabal and Michael Kott.

People ask me why I've made a Christmas album after all the struggles between Indigenous Peoples and Christianity. My answer is that I needed to address the contradictions. Our Native religion is based on Nature and is a 24/7, 365-day spiritual concept, but then on the corner there's a Catholic Church. For many Americans, Christmas is a time when they become conscious of spirituality, and I wanted to connect our cultures at this special time. No matter what the politics were like when these songs were first heard, the music was created to fill the listener with love, hope and joy. They show that beauty can go beyond conflict to a place where music is the hero.
--Robert Mirabal


From the Website:

ABOUT THE ALBUM: This collection of classic Christmas Carols was specially arranged and recorded at Taos Pueblo. As you listen, remember that many of these songs became popular during the 19th Century, a time of great change in America. But this was the music of the people; beautiful, uplifting and inspiring. I hope you enjoy this unique presentation of sound and holiday spirit... Robert


ABOUT ROBERT: Living with his family at the foot of sacred Taos Mountain, Robert maintains a traditional life, keeping the centuries-old customs of the Taos Pueblo people.

Described as a Native American "Renaissance man"--musician, composer, painter, master craftsman, poet, actor, screenwriter, horseman and farmer--Robert has traveled extensively and played his music all over the world.

His first flute came when he was 18 with money he borrowed from his grand mother, and shortly afterwards he borrowed from his grand mother, and shortly afterwards he had the opportunity to meet Native American flute player Carlos Nakai. When we met he looked at my hands and laughed. He said, I have that same scar. It's the scar of the flute maker.

In the years since, Robert has continued the evolution of his flute making and has also become a concert performer and recording artist. His eight albums of traditional music, rock and roll, and spoken word present a contemporary view of American Indian life that is unequaled.

A leading proponent of world music, Robert has merged his indigenous American sound with those of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, tapping into a planetary pulse with a style that defies categorization.

Whether as a composer, songwriter or musician, Robert has won many honors including two-time Native American Artist of the Year, three-time Songwriter of the Year, and a 2006 Grammy Award for "Sacred Ground," Best Native American Album of the Year .

Robert Mirabal

Pueblo Christmas

Order from Amazon

Track List