Editorial Reviews

As one might expect, any Windham Hill collection of Christmas music expresses the peaceful, mellower side of the season. These are the same kind of instrumentals that play overhead creating pleasant background music as shoppers bustle to finish holiday gift buying. And while anything labeled "background music" may be seen as musical Milquetoast, it is nearly impossible to sip eggnog and talk to Uncle Dave and Aunt Suzie over a backdrop of Alvin & the Chipmunks. Selections by Luka Bloom, Solus, Loreena McKennitt, and others blend a number of Celtic new age styles into a seamless mix that flows easily from Phil Cunningham and Manus Lunny's "When the Snow Melts" to Jeff Johnson and Brian Dunning's "We Follow a Star." Instrumentally and vocally, Celtic Christmas delivers a sound as hushed as the winter landscape on its cover, relying on stripped-down arrangements of harps, whistles, fiddles, and keyboards in a variety of combinations. Cormac Breatnach's instrumental "Nollaig Na Mban" (it translates into "Women's Christmas, 6th January") is adorned with a whistle, acoustic guitar, cello, keyboards, and tenor sax. And while that may sound like a large ensemble, the careful interplay between musicians still allow for quiet, open spaces. For those who value Yuletide conversations with kinfolk or perhaps just wish for soothing music in the busiest of seasons, Celtic Christmas is a snow covered island of tranquility. Ronnie D. Lankford Jr., All Music Guide

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