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Ready for some ragtime? She Loved Christmas is a jazzy treasure that will get your toes tapping. Best known for being a gifted ragtime pianist, Sue Keller pulls out all the stops on this delightful holiday offering.

Sue Keller's voice is a true gift--sophisticated, sultry, husky and sassy; she's roughly reminiscent of Judy Garland wrapped in a big Santa hat. Almost all of the tunes display Keller's unique vocals; two cuts, however, treat the listener to jumpin' instrumentals (Sleigh Ride and Sugar Plum Strut).

Most of the 15 songs present familiar holiday standards (e.g., Winter Wonderland, Christmas Song) as lively, lift-your-spirit offerings. Five are original compositions, including the title track, She Loved Christmas, which the artist wrote and dedicated to her mom. This song melds a marvelous melody with thoughtful lyrics; it is my favorite cut on the album. The song is a heartwarming celebration of loved ones who adored the holiday season, but are no longer with us. She Loved Christmas is a moving, puts-a-lump-in-your-throat composition. Another Keller original, Cleanin' Up Christmas, humorously conveys the sad truth about the carnage left behind after the holidays, complaining that she'll be "dying Easter eggs" before she gets all her Christmas paraphernalia packed up and cleaned out.

Showing a nice range of material, this CD is of at least two minds. On the one hand, several numbers are entirely serious. Silent Night is not surprisingly one such song, done "a cappella" with gorgeous, reverential harmonies. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas similarly builds on a thoughtful foundation of deeply-felt emotion. On the other hand, selections such as Boogie Woogie Santa and Jingle Bell Rock are all about letting loose. This blend of fun and reverence yields a terrific mix, and the unifying factor is Keller's smoky, jazzed-up voice.

Ending the CD with Pax Mundi, the artist's own ragtime composition, is the perfect close to a very cool album. She Loved Christmas will always stay with me, especially that title cut.

--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2003)

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From the liner notes:

Sue Keller: Piano, vocals & arrangements

Pete Devine: Percussion

Emily Simer Braun & Judy Leschewski: Background vocals

"Ragtime Santa Bob" Darch: Special guest appearance

Howard Vigorita: Recording, artwork and guitar

"I remember when Sue's idea to do this CD first came to light. She and her old friend Emily, whom she hadn't seen since college, had gotten together at a Christmas party in Chicago. They spotted a ppiano and an impromptu concert was suddenly in progress. The music just gushed out."

"Still mulling it over two and a half years later, Sue happened to be sitting around chatting with the members of the San Francisco street band, Bo Grumpus. They mentioned they were almost done with their own Christmas CD. On impulse, Sue asked their percussionist, Pete Devine, if he'd be interested in sitting in on hers."

"The following summer, Pete flew in. A week had been set aside for recording. But three and a half hours and 14 tracks later, it was done. (Except for a new tune which was recorded with scratch vocals because the 2^nd verse hadn't been written yet.) That left the rest of the week for Chicago blues clubs. Later Sue, Emily, and another fried Judge would add background vocals, kazoos, as well as an additional a capella track."

"Sue wrote and dedicated the title track to her mom, who instilled in her the love of the holiday season. Cleanin' Up Christmas is another Sue Keller original. Both of these are sure to strike a chord in us all. Sue's closing composition, Pax Mundi, is a little closer to the blues style Sue is better known for. Interestingly enough, it was inspired by Neil Young's performance of John Lennon's Imagine."

"Two other originals are contained within, composed by friends."

"Sugar Plum Strut was written by Johnathan Jensen, of the Baltimore Symphony, who has provided Sue with material in the past for her ragtime CDs. This particular work is derived from The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. It is rendered here in a style more akin to the stride flavor of ragtime."

"Save New Year's Eve for Me was brought to Sue's attention by lyricist John Paul Hudson shortly after her move from New York to Chicago in 1998. [H]e sent her a 30-year-old deteriorated recording of an old composition of his which he wanted her to re-record so he could shop it around again. Sue liked the song so much that 4 years later she asked John Paul for permission to record it again, for her own album. Sadly, shortly after we received all the releases, John Paul passed away."
--Howard Vigorita (September 2002)

Sue Keller

She Loved Christmas

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Track List