Normally, I was that guy who avoided Christmas concerts, but last year changed me. I decided to see Sultans of String play in a church, and I was turned on to a new way of looking at Christmas.
Well, this year, I guess you can now call it a tradition. I went to see their Christmas caravan concert at Hugh’s Room. The reason for this change of heart is that their perception of Christmas comes from a world view. They do play some of our favourite Christmas songs, but with a twist. This is a band that loves to collaborate with world musicians. That means you can hear a song like “Angels we have heard on high” in French. You can listen to a song reworked as a skiffle or even get some heavy drum beats to Silent night.
The band opened the show with a medley of Middle Eastern sounds. I couldn’t help but notice a musician named Saskia playing the most unusual instrument. It come from Sweden and is call a Nykelharpa which translate to “Keyed Fiddle”. The right hand plays the instrument like a fiddle while your left hand plays a keyboard. I was delighted when I heard that she actually played with Uriah Heep at their 30th anniversary show. How cool is that!
A song like “Have a very Merry Christmas” done to a Bossa Nova beat really breathes life and adds a different perspective to the song. If you feel they may push boundaries a little too far, don’t worry their version of a Charlie Brown Christmas stayed true to its roots.
Not only is this show a variety of new sounds around the globe, but it could be educational as well. We were introduced to a singer who gave us a Jewish Spanish song that was taught to her by her grandmother and was considered an American treasure back in her day.
Francophone, Christine St Pierre came all the way down from Ottawa to participate and sing one of her personal folk songs.
Personally I couldn’t help but closely watch the drummer who had a Cuban style way of playing. His interpretation on reinventing classic songs was fascinating to watch.
If you are a person who is open to reimagining Christmas songs, this is the show you should take in. So, with that, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and don’t forget to go out and have a Blast!
Here are the players:
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