Album Notes

3 Hours of Holiday music in every musical style make up Tramper's Dynamic Christmas boxed set of originals and standards performed like you've never heard before! Tramper, the Dynamic dog on the cover, had her original home at The Humane Society at Lollypop Farm, and although she is not performing on the CDs named for her, she was the inspiration for this great recording project and money from each sale goes to benefit her original home. Bring great music into your home for the holidays - and help our homeless furry friends and companions at the same time.

Ballads, classics, rock'n'roll, Blues, originals, country, jazz, folk, world beat, Gospel - it's all here with something for everyone's musical taste. From big musical productions to straight forward vocal and guitar, and everything in between, each production is excellent.

Here's what reviewers have had to say:

After I asked for the chance to hear (the fascinating) Carousel Christmas from Dynamic Records, I received a package containing both Carousel Christmas and Tramper's Dynamic Christmas.

Oh, great, thinks I, more animal music!

Well, joy! Rapture! It's not animal music at all, but one of the finest "various artists" collections I have heard, and by far the largest and most various. Dynamic has put together a 3 CD set of enchanting Christmas songs--47 songs, count 'em--in a wide variety of moods and styles.

Although it will be difficult to characterize this wide-ranging collection, I'll try. The three CDs contain a good sampling of sacred, seasonal, and Santa songs. Many of the traditional favorites are covered, at times in quite unconventional arrangements. And there are several nice original songs, too.

Amy Collins and John Stevens perform a beautiful minor-key folk rendition of Adeste Fideles. Linda Rutherford and Celtic Fire perform a very "riverdance" version of Christmas in Killarney. Alfred St. John and the Trinidad & Tobabo Steelband tap out a moving arrangement of What Child Is This on pans, accompanied by drums and bass guitar. (This is the opportunity I've been waiting for to suggest that pan arrangements are always a richer experience for me when they're accompanied by other, non-pan instruments. This band is first rate.)

For choral music fans, there is the St. John The Evangelist Adult Choir (Michael Szatkowski, Director) with a traditional arrangement of Do You Hear What I Hear. And Beth Schroeder picks and sings a slightly jazzed up Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. I'm trying to give an idea of the range of styles appearing on this set, and I'm only scratching the surface.

I love regional recordings, because they can offer so much more value than what the major record labels get away with producing. This music really makes a strong case.

The other thing that stands out for me about this offering is that the people who put this project together clearly care about Christmas and about their community. That always makes a difference in how I listen to a recording. The liner notes say that $3.00 from each copy of this recording (which lists at $19.95--a "best buy") goes to the Humane Society of Rochester and Monroe County.

I highly recommend this Exceptional collection.

--Richard Banks