Looking forward to the Christmas downpour - SOUNDS FAMILIAR by Baby A. Gil

We are living in difficult times. But that does not mean that the downtrodden Pinoy would deprive himself of a truly merry Christmas celebration. If we are to judge from past behavior, it can even be said that a lot of decisions and even important affairs of the state were often put on hold until after the Christmas Season.

So the decorations are out, shopping, even if only the window sort, has started, and radio stations are now playing Christmas tunes. Of course, the Christmas albums have already been on display in the music stores for several weeks now. You cannot really blame the music distributors for cashing in on the Yuletide spirit earlier than others. They have only a few weeks every year to sell their products. Those on display though are mostly albums from the past years. Kenny G.’s Faith, Jose Mari Chan’s Christmas in Our Hearts and Celine Dion’s These are Special Times are among the top sellers.

But hold your breaths. The next few weeks will see a virtual deluge of new Christmas products and it looks like the choices this year will be very interesting. The most exciting Christmas album to watch out for is by Christina Aguilera. I still have to get the title but given her fantastic voice, this one is likely to dominate the hit charts this Holiday Season.

Then there are the three tenors, Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. I do not know if they will be doing Christmas concerts this year but the concert, that these three legends did in Vienna last December was recorded live and the album is expected to hit the stores soon. All three have already released their own solo Christmas collections in the past but this is the first one wherein they sing pop and classical Yuletide songs together.

Teen soprano with the angelic voice Charlotte Church is also going to release her first Christmas album. This will be made up of mostly classical favorites and traditional carols. And from the local front, there is Christmas for All, the third album in the inspirational series that already consists of Servant of All and Mother of All.

Meanwhile, now that we have entered into another pre-Christmas period, it is also time to look back and check out the musical gems of Christmas past. Billboard Magazine has come out with a list of the biggest selling Christmas albums from 1999 and on the top rung is Faith: A Holiday Album by sax wiz Kenny G.

This is actually Kenny G.’s second Christmas album. A year before he came out with Miracles: The Holiday Album, which is ranked number nine in the list. The sax is a musical instrument that one is not likely to associate with Christmas cheer. Its sound usually conjures up images of smoky dives where jazz is played. But Kenny G., who was said to be initially lukewarm to the idea of doing a Christmas album, was able to infuse Christmas cheer into the music and produced something totally enchanting.

Most special about Faith is the closing cut, which is the traditional New Year song, Auld Lang Syne. Dubbed The Millennium version, this one features sound bytes of important events of the past century. You will hear snatches of Thomas Edison, Orson Welles, Winston Churchill, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and others plus bits of news that affected the course of the world.

Also included are Let It Snow! Let It Snow! The First Noel, I’ll Be Home for Christmas, Sleigh Ride, We Three Kings/Carol of the Bells, O Christmas Tree, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Eternal Light (A Chanukah Song) a Kenny G., original, Ave Maria, Auld Lang Syne and The Christmas Song.

The others in the top 20 of the list are the following: The Magic of Christmas by country music superstar Garth Brooks; A Rosie Christmas, the Yuletide choices of actress and talk show host Rosie O’Donnell; These are Special Times, an inspiring collection by Celine Dion; This Christmas by boy group 98 Degrees; Joy: A Holiday Collection by Jewel; Home for Christmas by ’N Sync; A Christmas to Remember by Amy Grant; A Christmas Story by Point of Grace; Miracles: The Holiday Album also by Kenny G.; White Christmas by Martina McBride;

Ultimate Christmas by Various Arista Artists; Secret of Giving: A Christmas Collection by Reba McEntire; Merry Christmas Wherever You Are by George Strait; Christmas Live by the Mannheim Steamroller; Merry Christmas by Mariah Carey; Christmas again by the Mannheim Steamroller; A Christmas Album by Michael Crawford; A Very Special Christmas Live: From Washington D.C. by Various Artists; and Touched by an Angel: The Christmas Album by Various Artists featuring Christmas tunes from the popular TV series.