Album Notes

Throw this album on the home stereo and let it caress you into the holiday spirit! 40 minutes (10 tracks) of beautifully orchestrated traditional Christmas hymns performed with acoustic piano and various orchestral instruments such as cello, strings, english horn, oboe, and others. My main goal with the first 4 albums was to produce high quality solo acoustic piano works that would stand on their own and provide a good base to start from. Once I had them produced, it was time to focus on another Christmas album, this time using various orchestral instruments by way of SoundFont technology. In early September, 2001, I developed a track list of 10 to 12 songs. Originally, O Holy Night was on the list as well as several Christmas carols made popular by Julie Andrews (The Bells of Christmas, Irish Carol, I Saw Three Ships, and others). As the weeks passed, however, I had to make some tough decisions because certain songs weren't falling together. Plus I had just spent some time at the Winden's home where Dennis mentioned how much he LOVED the song Little Drummer Boy as a child. Well, when a friend gives you a cue like that, you simply MUST take it on. Similar to Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1, I gave my parents a rough CD of the tracks and had them review them and provide comments. I came back home with quite a list of details to check, fix, or change. These comments, as well as ones from my dear wife Kathy, enabled me to produce this album at the high quality that I believe it has. I gave all the tracks one final listen for several days going to and from work and made some final tweaks. Then it was time to upload them and finalize the album cover and inside liner notes (my favorite part of the whole production process, believe it or not!). I hope this album blesses your holiday season!