Musical Advent Calendar, Day 11: A New Deal for Christmas

 My Mission: One holiday-themed, non-carol song every day between now & Christmas. It's my own version of an Advent calendar. I may succeed, I may fail, but there will at least be some good music posted ... music you won't hear at the mall, that hopefully won't make you end up looking like him. ----->

Day 11: "A New Deal for Christmas" from Annie. (Chances are slim that we'll have a New Deal this Christmas ...)

(You can see previous songs here. Email me or comment below if you have a tune suggestion!)

The Honey Men Cometh

I've enjoyed a lot of @MMmusing's videos he's posted to YouTube. I sent out a friendly challenge the other day for a mash-up of John Adams Nixon in China and China Gates, which was responded with a mash-up of Sleigh Ride and Short Ride in a Fast Machine (I love his animation!).

My first attempt at this is a combination of Gil Evans'/Miles Davis' version of Here Come de Honey Man combined with the original operatic version (here taken from the 1989 Sir Simon Rattle recording). It's short - less a minute - but it's a start!

They're both in the same key, which made this easy, and the Evans version is about twice as long as the original (there's a fade out on the Evans/Davis album). Is the hypnotic feeling of the Evans version recreated here, or is it just more chaotic?

Check out more of @MMmusing's videos on his YouTube page and read his blog. You also need to watch his "12 Composers of Christmas" - it's great! (And pass it on so it hits 10,000 views this season.)

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Musical Advent Calendar, Day 10: Christmas Lullaby

My Mission: One holiday-themed, non-carol song every day between now & Christmas. It's my own version of an Advent calendar. I may succeed, I may fail, but there will at least be some good music posted ... music you won't hear at the mall, that hopefully won't make you end up looking like him. ----->

Day 10: "Christmas Lullaby" from Songs For a New World. (Performed July 2010, Lauren Tompkins, voice, yours truly on piano. I'm partly including this so Sam has more ammunition to talk about my alleged Jason Robert Brown obsession.)

(You can see previous songs here. Email me or comment below if you have a tune suggestion!)

Musical Advent Calendar, Day 9: Merry Almost Christmas

My Mission: One holiday-themed, non-carol song every day between now & Christmas. It's my own version of an Advent calendar. I may succeed, I may fail, but there will at least be some good music posted ... music you won't hear at the mall, that hopefully won't make you end up looking like him. ----->

Day 9: "Merry Almost Christmas" from A Year With Frog and Toad.



(You can see previous songs here. Email me or comment below if you have a tune suggestion!)

Musical Advent Calendar, Day 8: The Eighth Candle

My Mission: One holiday-themed, non-carol song every day between now & Christmas. It's my own version of an Advent calendar. I may succeed, I may fail, but there will at least be some good music posted ... music you won't hear at the mall, that hopefully won't make you end up looking like him. ----->

Day 8: The Eighth Candle, by Steve Reisteter. (I really enjoy the 5/8-3/4 section about halfway through. Here performed by the US Coast Guard Band.)

(You can see previous songs here. Email me or comment below if you have a tune suggestion!)