For those unaware, in the cozy confines of his Southern California “backyard” concert venue, contemporary jazz trumpeter Rick Braun played an intimate four-night stand at Spaghettini last Thanksgiving weekend to launch into the Christmas spirit.

The holiday cheer experienced at those sold-out shows, and the music he selected, arranged and performed at the concerts have spread from the boutiquey Seal Beach enclave to seed the global release of “It’s Christmas,” a ten-track collection produced by Braun releasing October 11th, 2024 from Brauntosoarus Music.

1. “Deck Those Halls”
2. “The Coventry Torch Song”
3. “The Christmas Song”
4. “Do You Hear The Angels”
5. “The Good Kings”
6. “God Rest Ye Merry Gents” [featuring the Pinot Noir Brass]
7. “White Christmas”
8. “It’s Christmas”
9. “The Santa Clause”
10. “Christmas Eve Waltz”

This wonderfully infectious, and dutifully-crafted new recording opens on the album’s first single, the bluesy funk roll of “Deck Those Halls” and the simply stunning “The Coventry Torch Song” (which is a seamless blend of the English Elizabethan “The Coventry Carol” and the 17th century French “Bring a Torch, Jaenette, Isabella”), and then we get brought forth the an elegant, veritably elevated “The Christmas Song,” an all-embracing “Do You Hear The Angels” (itself a medley of four Christmas chestnuts: “Do You Hear What I Hear?,” “Angels We Have Heard on High,” “Oh Come All Ye Faithful,” and “Deck the Halls”) and the sensual “The Good Kings” (a blend of both “We Three Kings” and “Good King Wenceslas.”

Along next is the wholly impassioned “God Rest Ye Merry Gents” - featuring the Pinot Noir Brass: Braun (trumpet), Jeff Bunnell (trumpet), Dickson (French horn), Doug Tornquist (tuba), and Nick Lane (trombone) - and that is followed by the doo-wop, wawa trumpet-imbibed “White Christmas,” the first of two new songs Braun wrote for the album, the storytelling vibe of “It’s Christmas,” a whimsical take on “The Santa Clause” (which opens with some whistling of “Santa Clause is Coming to Town,” which itself references the Tim Allen Christmas movie, of course), and then it all closes on the second Braun composition, “Christmas Eve Waltz.”

Official Website