Sandy Brown Jazz

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Jazz As Art

The Christmas Song

From Iain Ballamy and Jason Rebello

When you listen to music, you sometimes conjure images in your mind. Our Jazz As Art series invites you to listen to a piece of jazz and as it plays, scroll down the page and see which of the pieces of art I have chosen comes closest to the pictures in your mind. Hopefully, this will introduce you to recordings and art works you might not have spent time with before.

For some years around Christmas time, saxophonist Iain Ballamy and pianist Jason Rebello have got together informally and with the occasional gig, to play seasonal music. We all know Christmas will be different this year because of the Coronavirus, and so this time their gig had to be streamed online on 9th December, but here's a chance to listen to Iain and Jason's music as they play The Christmas Song and share the paintings I have chosen to go with the music.

This recording, made back in 2012, was made in Jason's studio. You can listen to more Christmas tunes by them here.

Iain recorded an album What's New with vocalist Ian Shaw and pianist Jamie Safir earlier this year and as with many recordings, that tour was interrupted by the pandemic, but you can find details of the album here. In July, Iain and Jason did get together for an online 'Live In Lockdown' gig, unfortunately only the preview for the concert appears to be available, but you can watch it here.

So, to The Christmas Song - I have chosen 15 paintings to go with the tune - play the track and scroll down to look at the paintings and see what you think........ (I think this only works if you spend time with each painting).

'Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose ....... '