That feeling when you made a Christmas record and have to wait all year to mention it and finally it’s December..
Hi all and Christmas time is finally here yay!
My pianist Nick Shankland and I just love playing Christmas songs and always talked about writing one, and last year at Halloween we finally did. It has a London theme and is called Christmas Dream.
A simple theme, a Christmas dream
A dream of snow, where the reindeer go
And old friends gather near, new friends share the cheer
Winter tales that we adore as in days of yore
So here’s a toast to Marley’s ghost
We’ll keep our Christmas dream the London bells ring out the call
A very merry Christmas one and all
Anyways, we got so Christmassy we decided to make an album but it was so last minute that we only got the CDs a week before December 25th which was very late of course. Plus it didn’t come out on iTunes etc till January haha! So, you can imagine how excited I’ve been all year to tell you about it..
The lovely people at Kind Of Jazz did a very nice review which is well worth a read (I have copy/pasted it at the bottom of this post after the video so please scroll down).
Below is a little photo-montage album taster, and if you want to buy the album this link will give you all the options.. where to get the album
A very merry Christmas one and all – Kittyxx
KIND OF JAZZ – ALBUM REVIEW
Friday, 18 December 2015 00:53
Kitty La Roar – Christmas Dream E.P.
Written by Matthew Ruddick
Authors Ranking: Authors Ranking
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Need a Christmas stocking filler? Kitty La Roar’s Christmas E.P. could be just what you’re looking for.
Kitty La Roar proves just how much value you can get from a last minute gift. Out just in time for Christmas this festive E.P. is packed with familiar tunes – arranged and delivered by Kitty with superb backing from Nick Shankland on piano, presented in their own inimitable style.
It opens and closes with Nick and Kitty’s version of Bob Wells and Mel Torme’s Merry Christmas To You with Kitty’s sumptuous vocals over sultry, fluid piano from Nick. Rivulets and cascades of piano notes underpin Kitty’s voice now showing a delicious maturity. Breathy, sensuous, this is the most riveting recording of this Christmas favourite for a long time. Nick has a solo in the middle of the song where he selflessly gifts the listener a few playful atonal references among the oh-so familiar cadences of the tune. This is a great arrangement.
Lee Mendelson and Vince Guaraldi’s Christmas Time is Here is beautifully delivered. Almost note perfect, Kitty sings over gentle, rhythmic piano pulses; cleverly structured, it finished with the piano tinkling up, up and away taking the listener off into the dream.
Frank Loesser’s What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve? Is lovely – dark, sexy, sultry and backed by some lovely counter-point rhythms from Nick. His piano solo is a harmony-infused balance, blending perfectly with the to the vocals with just a touch of mischievousness.
Ralph Blane and High Martin’s Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas is delivered slow and sultry, every word breathed with meaning. Kitty brings a new life to this standard. Clear words, pure vocals, and a husky delivery make for a lovely interpretation of the song.
A Christmas Dream is the pair’s own composition and conjures up a Christmas scene with friends, winter tales, past times and drinking to Marley’s Ghost. There is some terrific, softly inserted off-beat piano under great vocals. This is a track with many textures and layers, the edginess to the piano conjuring up some dark spirits at times before these are sent packing by tinkles and trills re-introducing the Christmas cheer. A great new track.
Joan Javits and Philip Springer’s Santa Baby is fun, frivolous and Kitty is naughtiness personified. Tongues firmly in cheeks, the pair render a devilish version of this song with Kitty telling us how good she has been when it is clear she has been anything but. A great interpretation and cheekily delivered with Nick finding melodies emerging from places hitherto unknown. Any Santa worth his salt will be making a beeline for Kitty’s chimney.
The E. P. finishes with a return to Merry Christmas To You making the perfect finish to this festive bag of goodies.
This is a great E.P. – perfect as a stocking filler. It is carefully sung, professionally delivered and sums up the spirit of Christmas music. Like a well-wrapped present, the layers peel away, revealing with each listen a new nugget tucked away amongst the wrapping. Priced at just five pounds this could be the best fiver you will spend this year.
Available from:
http://www.coffeeandapplerecords.com/#!product-page/c1k0f/148ac600-19a6-9fcd-bf24-256e5ddaf9f8
Review: Sammy Stein