Breath of Heaven: A Holiday Collection
Encyclopedia
Breath of Heaven: A Holiday Collection is a Christmas compilation album by Grover Washington Jr., mostly on soprano saxophone
, released in 1997 and nominated for a Grammy in 1998. Dawn Andrews contributes vocals and cello. Billy Childs contributes piano.
Soprano saxophone
The soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in...
, released in 1997 and nominated for a Grammy in 1998. Dawn Andrews contributes vocals and cello. Billy Childs contributes piano.
Track listing
- "Have Yourself a Merry Little ChristmasHave Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is a song introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis. Frank Sinatra later recorded a version with modified lyrics, which has become more common than the original. The song was written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane...
" (Ralph BlaneRalph BlaneRalph Blane was an American composer, lyricist, and performer.-Life and career:Born Ralph Uriah Hunsecker in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Blane was the son of grocery store owners. He attended Tulsa Central High School...
, Hugh MartinHugh MartinHugh Martin was an American musical theater and film composer, arranger, vocal coach, and playwright. He is best known for his score for the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me In St...
) – 4:56 - "Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song)" (Chris Eaton, Amy GrantAmy GrantAmy Lee Grant is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, media personality and actress, best known for her Christian music. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christian Pop"...
) – 6:59 - "The Love in His Infant Eyes" (Donald Robinson, Grover Washington Jr.) – 4:27
- "Away in a MangerAway in a Manger"Away in a Manger" is a Christmas carol first published in 1885 in Philadelphia and used widely throughout the English-speaking world. In Britain it is one of the most popular carols, a 1996 Gallup Poll ranking it joint second.-History of the lyrics:...
" – 5:56 - "I Wonder as I WanderI Wonder As I Wander"I Wonder as I Wander" is a Christmas carol written by John Jacob Niles. The carol has its origins in a song fragment collected on July 16, 1933 by folklorist and singer John Jacob Niles....
" – 5:23 - "Christmas Time Is Here" (Vince GuaraldiVince GuaraldiVincent Anthony "Vince" Guaraldi was an Italian American jazz musician and pianist noted for his innovative compositions and arrangements and for composing music for animated adaptations of the Peanuts comic strip...
, Lee Mendelssohn) – 5:04 - "The Magi's Song/A Child Is Born" (Joe Locke/Thad JonesThad JonesThaddeus Joseph Jones was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader.-Biography:Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan to a musical family of ten . Thad Jones was a self taught musician, performing professionally by the age of sixteen...
)– 4:56 - "Jesu, Joy of Man's DesiringJesu, Joy of Man's DesiringJesu, Joy of Man's Desiring is the most common English title of the 10th movement of the cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. A transcription by the English pianist Myra Hess was published in 1926 for piano solo and in 1934 for piano duet...
" (Johann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
) – 4:22 - "The Christmas SongThe Christmas Song"The Christmas Song" is a classic Christmas song written in 1944 by musician, composer, and vocalist Mel Tormé and Bob Wells. According to Tormé, the song was written during a blistering hot summer...
" (Mel TorméMel TorméMelvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
, Robert Wells) – 4:33 - "The Christmas Waltz" (Sammy CahnSammy CahnSammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
, Jule StyneJule StyneJule Styne was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.-Early life:...
) – 4:47 - "Christmas Day Chant" – 3:41
- "Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song, Instrumental Version)" (Eaton, Grant) – 5:18
Personnel
- Dawn Andrews – Cello, Vocals
- Todd Barkan – Producer
- Pablo Batista – Percussion, Conga
- Hiram BullockHiram BullockHiram Law Bullock was an American jazz funk and jazz fusion guitarist.He was born in Osaka, Japan to African American parents serving in the U.S. Military. At the age of two he returned to Baltimore, Maryland with his parents, and quickly showed a prodigious musical talent...
– Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Arranger, Keyboards - Alice Butts – Design
- Billy Childs – Piano, Arranger, Keyboards
- David Ellis – Illustrations
- Lisa FischerLisa FischerLisa Fischer is an American R&B singer and songwriter. She rose to fame in 1991 with her debut album So Intense, which produced the Grammy Award winning hit single "How Can I Ease the Pain". Known for her high notes, which extends into the whistle register, Fischer has been recognized as one of...
– Vocals - Sven Granert – Production Assistant, Assistant Producer
- Adam Holzman – Synthesizer
- Bashiri Johnson – Percussion
- Kiku – Art Direction
- Will LeeWill Lee (bassist)Will Lee aka William Franklin Lee IV is an American musician and bassist, best known for his work on the CBS television program The Late Show with David Letterman as part of the CBS Orchestra....
– Bass - Victor LewisVictor LewisVictor Lewis is an American jazz drummer, a major force in the genre since the 1980s.-As leader:*1992: Family Portrait - with John Stubblefield, Edward Simon, Cecil McBee, Don Alias, Jumma Santos...
– Drums - Joe LockeJoe LockeJoseph Paul Locke is a US American jazz vibraphonist, composer, recording artist and educator.-Biography:Locke was born in Palo Alto, California, but raised in Rochester, New York...
– Arranger, Chimes, Keyboards, Marimba, Vibraphone - Donald Robinson – Piano, Arranger, Keyboards, Producer
- Norman Jean Roy – Photography
- Maureen Sickler – Assistant Engineer
- Paul Silverthorne – Production Coordination
- Richard Lee Steacker – Guitar
- Rudy Van GelderRudy Van GelderRudy Van Gelder is an American recording engineer specializing in jazz.Often regarded as one of the most important recording engineers in music history, Van Gelder has recorded several thousand jazz sessions, including many widely recognized as classics, in a career spanning more than half a century...
– Engineer - Gerald VeasleyGerald VeasleyGerald Veasley is an American jazz bass guitarist.Veasley was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he played in R&B groups as a teenager. He worked with Joe Zawinul from 1988 to 1995, and began releasing his own records in 1992. He has also done extensive work as a studio musician....
– Bass - Christine Washington – Production Coordination
- Grover Washington, Jr. – Arranger, Alto, Soprano & Tenor Saxophone
- Steve Wolf – Drums