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Like the most comfortable pair of well-worn blue jeans, Tom Munch's welcoming Christmas is a great folk fit. His easygoing acoustic presence combines warm and unpretentious vocals with minimal orchestration (supported by Don Richmond), and the result is almost a full hour (57 minutes!) of relaxed holiday fun. Listening to Christmas is like picking up a juicy hamburger at your favorite neighborhood restaurant--the flavors are rich and fulfilling, and the meal goes down easy.

With a visage vaguely reminiscent of Jack Black, Munch is a professional musician with a gentle side, finding the time to work weekly with Alzheimer's patients, and that's very cool. My wonderful mother-in-law died of the disease last year at this time, and it is rewarding to imagine artists of Munch's caliber improving the quality of life for those struggling under the heavy veil of this disease.

I know for certain that Munch improved my quality of life this evening. After a hectic day, I was ready for buoyant, thoughtful folk interpretations of holiday standards, and Munch provides an excellent spread of familiar sacred and secular numbers, and a few unusual selections, too. I greatly enjoyed Munch's Away in a Manger, a piece that can sound boring and/or childish. Not so here; instead, the artist delivers an achingly slow and reverent version filled with emotion. Munch also scores points with the ubiquitous Silent Night, which shines with a simple, special preciousness here. The album closes nicely with a winning instrumental, White Christmas.

Tom Munch's Christmas is a gentle embrace in a tough world. I sure wish I had a current pair of jeans as comfortable as this album!

--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2007)

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From the liner notes:

Tom Munch: acoustic guitar, electric bass, melodica, ocarina
Don Richmond: acoustic guitar, fretless bass, fiddle, mandolin, dobro, harmonica, Weissenborn & bodhran

I hope the snow is lightly falling & you have a hot cup of wassail as you listen to this album of Christmas songs. This album is the result of countless Christmas parties, church singalongs, evenings by the Christmas tree, & Mom's spritz cookies--all memories that contribute to the magic I still feel every year at Christmas. It amazes me that the sacredness & stillness capture me no matter what circumstances find me at Christmastime each year. I owe a debt of gratitude to Don Richmond for his flawless contributions to this album. Many of the beautiful instruments you hear are played by his nimble fingers & lucid imagination.


From the Website:

Tom Munch has brought a blend of Southwest-folk-jazz to Southern Colorado's music scene for two decades. Tom has performed at a wide variety of venues, including concerts and festivals, restaurants and schools, civic events and nursing homes, and even dude ranches and the Royal Gorge Bridge. His versatility also is seen in an impressive repertoire of some 2,500 songs. Styles include jazz standards, western, folk, classic rock, R&B, children's and rare historic songs, plus originals. Tom finds the heart of each song and performs with a love of music and respect for his audience, whether it be in a concert setting or for his weekly work with Alzheimer's patients.

Tom Munch

Christmas

Artist site

Track List