Jacqueline Schwab
DOWN CAME AN ANGEL
Dorian 90275
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also available on amazon
This is one of the most beautiful and heartfelt discs I have come across in a long time. It also happens that this is the Christmas music I have been waiting for all my life. There is the strong and vibrant playing you expect when you see the name Jacqueline Schwab on the cover, and there is also so much that is in the meditative/emotional realm without rolling over into that sickly sentimental folderol that fills the airwaves at this time of year. The few songs on the air that don't fall into that category are so overplayed that I get tired of them each year and turn off the radio. The versions of the more recognizable songs that she plays here, are recognizable, but they are played with such impassioned feeling that they ring true. Listen to IT CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR, or O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM, and tell me if you have heard them played with so much sincere passion. She takes a song like GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN and gives it a whole new life and meaning, so that it is no longer the song that you got tired of singing around the campfire. This 66 plus minute collection of carols, Appalachian hymns, and spirituals is perfect for not only Christmas but the year around. These songs reflect the often confused feelings many of us have about Christmas. A time of birth, children, and joy; and also unease, loneliness, and a disconnectedness. But they are played with a simple directness that shines on through everything, putting all the poignant real emotions back into Christmas.
Produced by Ronn McFarlane
This is a solo recording of Jacqueline Schwab playing a Steinway D piano
Songs, times, and writers (noted if not a traditional song)
1 THE CHERRY TREE CAROL - 4:17
2 IT CAME UPON THE MIDNIGHT CLEAR - 4:21
3 A VIRGIN MOST PURE - 3:14
4 I HEARD FROM HEAVEN TODAY - 3:07
5 BRIGHT MORNING STARS ARE RISING - 5:10
6 BABE OF BETHLEHEM - 2:48
7 DOWN CAME AN ANGEL - 3:06 - Jean Ritchie
8 AWAY IN A MANGER - 3:28
9 O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM - 2:51
10 JEHOVAH, HALLELUJAH - 2:58
11 THE BLESSINGS OF MARY - 3:41
12 BRIGHTEST AND BEST - 5:23 - Jean Ritchie
13 I WONDER AS I WANDER - 4:13
14 WE THREE KINGS OF ORIENT ARE - 4:11
15 MARY, WHAT YOU GONNA CALL YOUR PRETTY LITTLE BABY ? - 4:05
16 GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN - 3:59
17 RISE UP, SHEPHERD AND FOLLOW - 5:27