Album Notes

I’ve been a professional musician since I was thirteen years old, and have been playing Christmas songs for as long as I can remember – accompanying singers, as a soloist, and as Music Director for San Francisco’s legendary “Beach Blanket Babylon” theatrical revue. I’ve also produced many holiday CDs for artists, including saxophonist Ross Walters’ excellent “Snow On Snow”, which is available elsewhere on this site. I also genuinely love this music, and often find myself whipping out “We Three Kings” or “Silent Night” at the piano just for fun, even when it’s the middle of July.
As a music listener, I always wanted to hear a solo piano Christmas album that was a little jazzier than George Winston’s “December”, but not quite as jazzy as Vince Guarladi’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas. I didn’t want any drums or vocals getting in the way of the songs themselves, so while the music was playing I could write Christmas cards, carry on a conversation, or maybe just zone out for a while. Oh, and since I live in California, it’d be nice if the album sounded like Winter, if that makes any sense – I wanted to feel like I was curled up by the fireplace, looking out at the twilight, as the snow softly fell.
In my dreams, musically the album would be a combination of the aforementioned greats, Winston and Guaraldi, plus some of my other favorite pianists – David Foster, Bruce Hornsby, and Brad Mehldau, among others. And it’d be cool to have a bit of a classical vibe, too – Debussy and Bach being at the top of the list. Unfortuntunately, I grew tired of waiting for someone else to make this record, so…I did it myself.
“Cold December Flies Away” is the result of several days in the studio spent just playing my favorite holiday songs with the “record” button on. As I’ve been playing these songs for many years, I didn’t think about how I was going to approach each song with regards to harmony or structure – I just did what felt right at the moment. I was pleased to discover that, once I’d selected the most successful parts of each performance, the album very much resembled the holiday piano album of my dreams – I hope you have a similar experience with “Cold December Flies Away”.
Peace and love,

Ed