Tuesday, January 5, 2016

This Christmas

(posted in conjunction with the 12th day of Christmas)

This Christmas

Composed by Donny Hathaway. Released 1970.
Wistful but catchy. Interesting harmonic possibilities.
Not many remakes, possibly because of fairly complex chord progressions
and wide vocal range required.
Wikipedia entry here.






Donny Hathaway (1970)
The original version.








Yutaka (1993)
 From the GRP Christmas Album.
Electric koto adds novel effect.
Featured initially in obbligato and later in dedicated interlude.
Smooth and comforting bass, synths, strings and vocals.






Gloria Estefan (1993)
Tasteful remake.
Orchestration explores some interesting harmonic alternatives.






Jason Chen and Joseph Vincent (2014)
 Vocal duo.
Light touch with clean guitar backing only.
Structurally similar to Chris Brown's version (see below)






Highlight
Chris Brown (2010)
Enchanting modern makeover with Hammond Organ featuring prominently.
Chris Brown as a modern-day singing Santa with magical powers in an imaginative music video.
Adventurous bassline (see next clip as well).
 Warm chords on organ reverb. Topped with assertive lead guitar lines.






Gbass (Gianluca) - Bass Cover (2014)
This guy has decoded the amazing walking bass in the Chris Brown version!
Very instructive and enlightening.
Highlights subtle nuances in bassline in original clip.
This shows what fun it can be improvising on the bass guitar.






Chris Brown (2015)
Very recent live performance.
Enhanced by a supportive audience!

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