ChristmasReviews.com Says Noël éclectique is a Charmer"

Tucson holiday CD Noël éclectique" tops the 2004 Choral category listing at ChristmasReviews.com.

(PRWEB) November 14, 2004 -- Produced in Tucson, the holiday CD Noël éclectique" tops the 2004 Choral category listing of new reviews at ChristmasReviews.com. The choral"category, however, doesnt accurately represent the CD as a whole, as most of the singing is performed by local chanteur, Don Sheppard. The Tucson Boys Chorus, directed by Dr. Julian Ackerley, are featured guests on five of the fourteen tracks. They join Don on four selections and sing Carol of the Bells a cappella as their fifth selection. Tucson musician Khris Dodge is Musical Director and arranger.

The French-English CD offers unique arrangements of popular holiday favorites including Jingle Bells and Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer in both languages. It includes an array of familiar carols, most of which have French origins, like O Holy Night (Minuit Chrétiens) and Angels We Have Heard on High (Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes). The label Vive la Nostalgie specializes in French-American offerings, the first of which was éclectique," a 14 track CD by the same creative team.

Noël éclectique" is available at Borders Books and Music at Park Place Mall, and the Tucson Arizona Boys
Chorus office, 5770 E. Pima, Tucson. It is also available at these websites: VivelaNostalgie.com, CDBaby.com,
and Amazon.com.

This is what ChristmasReviews.com reviewer Carol Swanson says about Noël éclectique:
Parlez-vous francais? Non? Oui? It matters not -- regardless of how multilingual the listener, Noël éclectique is a charmer. Don Sheppard, an unabashed Francophile, presents a pleasing mix of 14 Christmas songs, mostly in French. Note, however, that many of the French tunes are well-known holiday standards that will be immediately recognizable to all. The ample liner notes provide the lyrics, including any necessary translations.

I must confess up front to a certain personal bias regarding this CD. Upon graduating from college, I spent a year teaching English in a university at Clermont-Ferrand, France, and it was one of the great adventures of my life. While there, I was a very minor chanteuse in the local choir; as a result, I am automatically favorably predisposed to embrace Sheppard's chansons with open arms. After hearing the album, I'm still giving Noël éclectique a hug.

Sheppard made a great choice by including the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus on five tracks. The boys add an extra layer of musicality and a kids' sense of fun, both big benefits when crafting an upbeat album for Christmas. The CD opens to the sounds of children's laughter and bells--both of the sleigh and church variety--quite the appropriate beginning to a holiday album. Sheppard has a fine, light baritone voice that confidently possesses the lyrics, whether in French or English.

My favorite tracks include Noël Nouvelet with its addictive percussive beat, the Boys Chorus' excellent a cappella treatment of Carol of the Bells, and the synthesizer-driven Les Anges dans nos Campagnes (Angels We Have Heard on High), which combines strong vocals by Sheppard and the Boys Chorus.

Hankering for a trip to Paris for the holidays? Plopping Sheppard's Noël éclectique onto your audio system would be infinitely more cost effective! Au revoir!"

Vive la Nostalgie produces recordings and programs that celebrate the many French and American songs that cross the ocean -- in both directions --and honors the treatment and approach given a song by each culture, France and America.

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