A stunning new jazz arrangement by Bill Dobbins of J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio, performed by Grammy-award-winning ensembles The King's Singers and the WDR (West German Radio, Cologne) Big Band. Recorded live in concert last year, this performance captures the timeless and versatile nature of Bach's work, retaining the integrity of the original within a wholly new musical setting. Dobbins's aims in creating the arrangement were four-fold: to convey the Christmas story of the original; to illustrate the musical diversityand imagination of the entire work through selected representative numbers from the original six cantatas;to translate the musical content and dramatic character of the original into jazz and latin idioms while retaining the spirit of Bach's music; and to showcase the talents of the ensembles. |