Here we are - the Monday before Christmas!

Yesterday we had our Christmas Music program here at Peakland UMC. Everything went really well and we had a pretty full sanctuary. I saw some old friends and some folks I hadn’t seen in a while, including our former associate Emma! If you missed the program, or if you were here and just would like to experience it again, the program was live-streamed on Youtube and Facebook. On Youtube, just search for Peakland UMC, and on Facebook, we are @peakumchurch.

A special treat for me was my flugelhorn friend Lynn Nash and his wife Katie coming to the program. Lynn and I did our album version of Silent Night and then we played What Child Is this with the choir and our guest bassist Russ Hovda. Which leads me to todays Music Monday.

It’s the last cut on the album and perhaps, from an orchestration standpoint, my favorite song on the album. I don’t usually do a lot of orchestration work on our projects we do together, but this medley of White Christmas and I’ll Be Home for Christmas sorta just insisted that I go that route. Without getting into a lot of details, let me say there are 24 tracks - everything from bass, drums, piano and flugelhorn to multiple string parts, harp, English horn and French horns - just to name a few. The best way to listen to this song, and for that matter all of them, is with a good pair of headphones or some good earbuds. You can hear how the parts really work with each other - one line in an instrument leads into a continuing line in another.

So, here is the final cut on our album - a medley of I’m Dreaming of A White Christmas and I’ll Be Home For Christmas.

Song plays

In upcoming Music Mondays, there will be an additional MM on Christmas Eve, where I’ll feature our version of O Holy Night, and then on Christmas Day the whole album start to finish for you to enjoy while opening presents, having brunch and just spending a little quiet time remembering the real reason for the season.

And if I don’t have any narrative on these upcoming MM, then let me wish you a very Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year, from my family to yours.

It’s Music Monday for December 11, 2023

https://on.soundcloud.com/e8CPT

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEjER1AAA4_b1hZvhmS9NDFSvPND6DVU4

Today’s Music Monday is going to feature my son, Matt, on the bass guitar in another of my Christmas Album songs - Ding Dong Merrily On High.

This song is not nearly as popular as a lot of other Christmas songs, but I picked it for a reason - playing 4 and 4. Ok, haha, what does that mean. Well, here’s the slighter longer explanation.

Years ago I played piano and occasionally trombone in s Big Band in the Lynchburg, Va area. Sometimes I would sub on piano for another group that played fairly regularly at the Green Briar Resort, in West Va. And I had several smaller groups - mostly trios, quartets or quintets I would play in here locally. This was all Big Band or light Jazz music. That’s where I learned the concept of 4 and 4. We would play a song and maybe on the 2nd or third time through, we would each take turns playing a solo - for 4 measures. So we would all be playing for 4 measures, and then maybe the bass player would take a 4 measure solo, usually with the drummer keeping time, and then we would all start playing again. In 4 measures maybe the drummer would take a 4 measure solo then we would all join back in - I think you get the idea.

So Ding Dong Merrily On High lends itself to that 4 and 4 concept. So on the first verse and chorus, Lynn, Matt and I play. There is a little interlude and then Matt takes a 4 measure solo on bass, I take 4 measures on piano, Lynn takes 4 measures on Flugelhorn, I take a RARE trombone solo for 4 measures and then we finish with Matt taking another 4 measure solo. We then play the whole song again with Lynn and I using mutes for the last chorus - kinda gives it a New Orleans flavor.

Enough explanation - here’s Ding Dong Merrily On High

From the We Need A Little Christmas Album, this is the title cut!

Song Only Series - NO Narrative

This is the Monday I’ve been waiting for!

It’s the Monday after Thanksgiving Day, 2023! And the Christmas Album, “We Need A Little Christmas” is finally available! We are making this 10 song Christmas project available online via Facebook, Soundcloud, my website and Youtube.

There are links in the description, but here is a quick synopsis of what to expect from the various venues. Facebook will have some of the songs from the album as Music Mondays through the holidays. Soundcloud will have all 10 songs, in a playlist, as individual songs as well as one track that contains all 10 songs. On Youtube, there will be the individual songs set against my flugelhorn friend and partner in this endeavor, Lynn Nash’s outdoor fireplace that he and his wife, Katie, decorated. And there will be one track, that will have all 10 songs, again set with the outdoor fireplace as the backdrop. Ideal for those of you that have a way to show Youtube videos on your TV at home!

So here is the first song on our Christmas Album - Deck The Halls

In the description, and on my website, linwoodcampbell.com, will be a link to all of the ways you can enjoy our Christmas Album. As mentioned previously, this Album is totally free - it’s a labor of fun and love from us to all of you. Feel free to share it whenever and however you like. If you enjoy this project and would like to spread a little Christmas joy, please consider making a donation to Lynchburg Daily Bread. My late father-in-law, Neal O'Brien, volunteered there for many years. Daily Bread serves hot meals 365 days of the year to those who have fallen on hard times. The numbers continue to grow in our area and the need is great.  Here’s a link to their donation page.

https://www.lynchburgdailybread.com/donate

Thanks for listening and supporting Music Monday’s through this year! Happy Holidays!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEjER1AAA4_b1hZvhmS9NDFSvPND6DVU4

From the 2023 Christmas Album - "We Need A Little Christmas"

Linwood Campbell and Lynn Nash. linwoodcampbell.com

Here's the "Fireplace Edition" on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEjER1AAA4_b1hZvhmS9NDFSvPND6DVU4

From the 2023 Christmas Album - "We Need A Little Christmas"

Linwood Campbell and Lynn Nash. linwoodcampbell.com

Here's the "Fireplace Edition" on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEjER1AAA4_b1hZvhmS9NDFSvPND6DVU4

From the 2023 Christmas Album - "We Need A Little Christmas"

Linwood Campbell and Lynn Nash. linwoodcampbell.com

Here's the "Fireplace Edition" on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEjER1AAA4_b1hZvhmS9NDFSvPND6DVU4

From the 2023 Christmas Album - "We Need A Little Christmas"

Linwood Campbell and Lynn Nash. linwoodcampbell.com

Here's the "Fireplace Edition" on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEjER1AAA4_b1hZvhmS9NDFSvPND6DVU4

From the 2023 Christmas Album - "We Need A Little Christmas"

Linwood Campbell and Lynn Nash. linwoodcampbell.com

Here's the "Fireplace Edition" on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEjER1AAA4_b1hZvhmS9NDFSvPND6DVU4