Willey's Entertaining Boptism Christmas

Bruce Von Stiers

Rich Willey plays trumpet, bass trumpet, valve trombone and a couple of other musical instruments. He has toured with Maynard Ferguson and the Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey and Cab Callaway Orchestras. The legendary artists he's played with include Mel Torme and Lionel Hampton.

Willey has written books on jazz and brass methods that he publishes through his company, Boptism Music. And he has taught at Clemson University and the University of North Carolina Asheville.

Willey has also recorded several albums. The latest of which is holiday themed and is titled Boptism Christmas. The album was recorded at the Seclusion Hills Studio and released by Willey's Boptism Music.

Willey put together a great group of artists to perform on the album with him. Most of them have been members of the arts and music community in Asheville.

Dylan Hannan is on alto sax. He performed with Veronica Swift and Dave Leibman, opened for Arturo Sandoval and was a member of the Glen Miller Orchestra for a short time. Ashley Pritchard is on tenor sax. Besides playing gigs in and around Ashville, North Carolina, she hosts the Taboo Science podcast and does things like running marathons.

Bill Reichenbach plays trombone and bass trumpet on the album. A sought-after session musician, he has performed music for over four hundred films and television episodes. Alex Taub is on piano and organ. He recorded the album Six Feet Apart during the pandemic with Pandeiro Jazz founder Scott Feiner.

Andy Page plays guitar on the album. A professor of jazz guitar at the Hayes School of Music at Appalachian State University, he has performed for former president Bill Clinton and with noted jazz musicians such as Phil Woods. Zach Page is on upright and electric bass. He is the brother of Andy Page and together they have a duo called, appropriately enough, The Page Brothers. He also plays for other regional artists such as Bill Bares and Kassidy Blount.

Justin Watt is the drummer for the album. Having performed with such notables as the Guy Lombardo Orchestra, he often performs with the Ashville Art Trios and the Greenville Jazz Collective Contemporary Ensemble. Russ Wilson does the vocals on one song and plays the drums on another. The host of the In The Groove radio show, he's performed with Jimmy Thackery, Kim Wilson and Bob Margolin.

And Rich Willey plays the trumpet on the album.

The album starts out with a rollicking tune. It is an interpretation of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen that has a bunch of cool jazz thrown in. The title of this song is Merry Gentlemen Kings.

The album's rendition of White Christmas has a bit of samba styling. There are some great trumpet, sax, trombone and pianos solos in the song.

Switching things up a bit, Willey gives Silver Bells a Caribbean feel. It is a fun, toe tapping time.

Things move back to more of a traditional vibe with Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. The song features piano for the first half, then there are other solos. It is a terrific rendition of the classic song.

Russ Wilson does a great job with his vocals on Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer. This rendition lets several of the musicians have the spotlight for short solos.

There is a strong jazz influence in Little Drummer Boyz. There is a cool trumpet solo with nice bass and drums backing it.

The Christmas Song is treated to a samba tone. It is very nicely done.

A light jazz bop sound is heard in the album's rendition of What Child Is This?

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel closes out the album. Keeping with the tone of the album, this rendition of the classic holiday song gets a toe-tapping jazz sound.

The song arrangements had been written for holiday concerts that Willey had performed over several years.

Boptism Christmas is an appealing Christmas musc album. With terrific arrangements of classic songs and extremely talented musical artists, this album stands out as a modern jazz holiday album.

Boptism Christmas is available now. You can order it directly from the Boptism Music website at https://boptism.com/boptism-music-store/christmas/

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© 2024 Bruce E Von Stiers