Album Notes

Frank Argento's Christmas Piano, Traditional Carols is all that. Both his phrasing and his selections are traditional. I imagined a long day of last-minute holiday shopping, followed by a brief respite--perhaps as I sit down for a moment in the shoe department of Macy's--and hearing the department store piano player giving me a moment to reflect. Pensive and unhurried, Argento's arrangements are more classical than new age, giving each piece its due.

Presented as a series medleys, Argento packs the essence of twenty holiday classics into 48 minutes Fof solo piano. Not a big fan of the medley approach, I thought it worked with these songs, simply because of the department store piano man approach. Traditional and very musical, Frank Argento's Christmas Piano, Traditional Carols will be appreciated and enjoyed by a wide variety of listeners.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2008)