CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- It's not the easiest thing to reinvent the wheel, but for the last 17 years, bandleader Bob Thompson has time and time again reinvented the sounds of the holidays with his "Joy To The World" show.
Thompson and company did it again with a fine evening of Christmas music celebrating the warm, fuzzy fun of mistletoe, snowflakes and good cheer. Part of "Joy To The World's" trick to making the very familiar holiday songs new again is in the guests they bring each year.
This year, the show hosted pianist and vocalist Diane Marino, whose musical style ventures into places far from Santa's workshop at the North Pole. The diminutive New Yorker with the big voice brought jazz flavored with Brazilian beats and Bossa nova.
For holiday music, the focus was festive, not meditative, cheerful, not spiritual. The show was a light, winter daydream and an invitation to escape from the worries of the season and perhaps a long and troubling year -- at least for about two hours.
To be honest, there was some doubt about how well the show would be attended. While the economy is supposedly on the road to recovery, locally there's been a lot of bad news lately. Jobs have been lost and no one knows how long the winter ahead will be, but people didn't stay home. They came out for "Joy To The World" and if there were empty seats, they seemed few and far between.
No two "Joy To The World" concerts are alike. Each show represents more of a particular aspect of the holiday. This year's show was more playful. Several of the night's songs harkened back to the hopeful bliss of childhood Christmases, including fond memories from favorite characters and old television specials.
The band dug into the popular modern canon of holiday classics, including a pair of songs from the venerable "A Charlie Brown Christmas." They also covered "Frosty The Snowman" and Thompson reminded everyone that the musical part of the mythical snowman came from Keyser, West Virginia.
Performances from the Bob Thompson Unit were as good as ever. Thompson surrounds himself with some of the best players in the state. Doug Payne on saxophone, John Inghram on bass, Timothy Courts on drums and guitarist Ryan Kennedy were each showcased and given a chance to shine not just once but several times over the course of the evening.
Joy To The World, once again, reinvented the sounds of the season and like always, made it look easy.
Reach Bill Lynch at ly...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5195.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- It's not the easiest thing to reinvent the wheel, but for the last 17 years, bandleader Bob Thompson has time and time again reinvented the sounds of the holidays with his "Joy To The World" show.
Thompson and company did it again with a fine evening of Christmas music celebrating the warm, fuzzy fun of mistletoe, snowflakes and good cheer. Part of "Joy To The World's" trick to making the very familiar holiday songs new again is in the guests they bring each year.
This year, the show hosted pianist and vocalist Diane Marino, whose musical style ventures into places far from Santa's workshop at the North Pole. The diminutive New Yorker with the big voice brought jazz flavored with Brazilian beats and Bossa nova.
For holiday music, the focus was festive, not meditative, cheerful, not spiritual. The show was a light, winter daydream and an invitation to escape from the worries of the season and perhaps a long and troubling year -- at least for about two hours.
To be honest, there was some doubt about how well the show would be attended. While the economy is supposedly on the road to recovery, locally there's been a lot of bad news lately. Jobs have been lost and no one knows how long the winter ahead will be, but people didn't stay home. They came out for "Joy To The World" and if there were empty seats, they seemed few and far between.
No two "Joy To The World" concerts are alike. Each show represents more of a particular aspect of the holiday. This year's show was more playful. Several of the night's songs harkened back to the hopeful bliss of childhood Christmases, including fond memories from favorite characters and old television specials.
The band dug into the popular modern canon of holiday classics, including a pair of songs from the venerable "A Charlie Brown Christmas." They also covered "Frosty The Snowman" and Thompson reminded everyone that the musical part of the mythical snowman came from Keyser, West Virginia.
Performances from the Bob Thompson Unit were as good as ever. Thompson surrounds himself with some of the best players in the state. Doug Payne on saxophone, John Inghram on bass, Timothy Courts on drums and guitarist Ryan Kennedy were each showcased and given a chance to shine not just once but several times over the course of the evening.
Joy To The World, once again, reinvented the sounds of the season and like always, made it look easy.
Reach Bill Lynch at ly...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5195.
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