Album Notes

Review from Christmasreviews.com:

Gotta love the Tucson High School Steel Band (Jovert)! What a concept--digging the holiday tunes in a steel band way. But what can you do? Santa's the Man, and his plan apparently involves letting the steel band rip the corners off stodgy old Christmas tunes. So Santa Man and His Steel Band Plan let loose on this fun and very different holiday album. Bravo!

I used to play the trumpet in my high school band (the Alliance High School Marching Band), and I thought we were pretty good, but we never had this kind of fun! Jovert's focus is on steel drums, an instrument that originated in the Caribbean. As a result, the sounds often reflect that island breeze flavor. The Jovert band is actually broken down into three separate performing ensembles--the Advanced Band (playing on 5 tracks), the Intermediate Band (1 cut), the Beginning Band (1 cut), and several steel drum duets and trios. My hat is off to Director Khris Dodge, who demands and obtains a very high level of musicianship from this spirited crew. Santa Man and His Steel Band Plan is a consistently fun and well-executed holiday album.

Jovert presents 12 tracks of great holiday favorites, including "Feliz Navidad" and a snazzy "Rockam (Christmas mix)" that has the feel of driving snow and, I swear, a snippet from "The Sound of Music" ("So Long, Farewell..") lurking near the close. Everything about this album is joyous fun--from the opening "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," to the stirring "Little Drummer Boy" with its memorable minor harmonies, to the kicky "Jingle Bells" with its surprising salsa interludes. I particularly liked the lovely piano interaction with the steel drums on Jovert's poignant interpretation of "Christmastime Is Here." Neat!

Have any plans for the holidays? No? Well, get with the plan--Santa Man and the Steel Band Plan may be the perfect plan for you!

--Carol Swanson


About JOVERT:

Jovert, is a steel drum band from Tucson Arizona. The band is divided into three different performing ensembles with almost a hundred members between all the ensembles. Please visit our website at www.jovert.com for more information, pictures, soundbites, booking information, etc.