If you are growing tired of the same Christmas jazz selections on repeat, do yourself a favor and check out Christmas with The Believers (1986). Chris O'Donnell (not the actor) called it " 31 minutes of Christmas jazz perfection." and I couldn't agree more. And it's free.
The trio is composed of Donny Schwekendiek on piano, Neal Heidler on bass and Barry Puhlovski on drums. The jazz pianist's style is reminiscent of Vince Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas, but with less angst. So uplifting and smooooth. It truly is "the best Christmas jazz record you've never heard of."
In fact, I wondered why I hadn't heard more of Schwekendiek's work, so I went down the rabbit hole. First, I found his official website, which google translated from Japanese. Then, I found an anime theme song attributed to him. Intriguing.
Turns out, Schwekendiek is from Atlanta. Two years after The Believers' Christmas album was released, he moved to Japan and now lives in Nagakute, Aichi. He keeps a full calendar of performances and has worked with Keiko Lee, a Japanese jazz singer.
One of those collaborations is the opening theme for the horror/crime/mystery anime series Requiem From The Darkness (2007), composed and performed by Keiko Lee. Donny Schwekendiek wrote the lyrics:
HT: COD (NTA)
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