A Windham Hill Christmas: The Night Before Christmas

1	Angels We Have Heard on High / Paul McCandless 4:41
2	Wassail Song / Philip Aaberg 4:05
3	Silent Night / Barbara Higbie 4:05
4	O Tannenbaum / Jim Brickman 2:57
5	Good King Wenceslas / Alex de Grassi 2:57
6	Morning Has Broken / Brian Dunning 2:55
7	O Thou Joyful Day/O Little Town of Bethlehem / Liz Story 3:38
8	The First Noel/What Is This Fragrance / Tim Story 3:39
9	It Came Upon a Midnight Clear / Giovanna Joyce Imbesi 4:11
10	Santa Claus Is Coming to Town / Steve Erquiaga 3:55
11	Walking in the Air / Fred Simon from The Snowman 4:27
12	The Green Trees of Winter / Will Ackerman 4:12
13	Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas / Tracy Silverman 4:53
14	Cherry Tree Carol / George Winston 4:16

Barnes & Noble

The Windham Hill Christmas series grows with The Night Before Christmas, featuring more than a dozen of the label's core artists in new recordings of Yuletide music. Jim Brickman ("O Tannenbaum"), George Winston ("Cherry Tree Carol"), Will Ackerman ("The Green Trees of Winter"), and others join together for a soothing seasonal celebration, Windham Hill–style.

All Music Guide

The collection The Night Before Christmas is exactly what one would expect from Windham Hill: mellow, new age instrumental versions of familiar Christmas songs. Artists include Jim Brickman, Alex De Grassi, Liz Story, George Winston, and a number of others. Songs include the familiar -- "Silent Night," "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," and "Cherry Tree Carol" -- and the less familiar -- "Walking in the Air" and "The Green Trees of Winter." One piece that stands out in this album's context is "Morning Has Broken." What makes this inclusion fun and unusual is that while it certainly fits in with the seasonal theme, one is probably more used to hearing it on oldies stations than Christmas albums. Everything on the album fits uniformly together. Even a piece like "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," usually a brisk and upbeat number, is as peaceful as "Silent Night" in the hands of Steve Erquiaga. This collection will undoubtedly find its way to numerous gift stores, where it will play in the background as listeners shop, but it should also prove just right for a quiet evening after the hectic rush of holiday shopping. For fans of the series (which includes half a dozen entries), The Night Before Christmas will be a welcome addition. Ronnie D. Lankford Jr.