ANGELS we have heard on high
Every year from 1990 - 1994, and also 1996, I was involved with recording Christmas music with musicians I often played with when I lived in S. Florida. We would gather in early December for a few days in the studio and record non-stop until we dropped and then finally (gasp) finished… a four or five song set that we had duplicated on to cassette. In that era, everyone had a cassette player… duplicating CD’s was out of the question due to cost. We sent the cassette as Christmas gifts to friends and family, and since Christmas remains to be timeless for us all, this music continues on today even after nearly 30 years!
This arrangement of “Angels We Have Heard On High” was recorded in December 1992 at Balsam Pillow Studio, Boca Raton, FL with Wendy Pedersen (vox), Jeff Quay (drums, percussion), Nicky Orta (bass), and myself on keys, arranging, engineering, mixing and mastering. The goofy piano intro is a demo song from the Roland FP-8 keyboard I was using at the time, processed through what can only be described as an “equimetric paralyzer”. A musical joke is juxtaposed right next to the rather serious scene to follow.
I love the soaring quality of Wendy’s vocal. Jeff left large pieces of his derriere on the drum throne. Nicky was the groove. The lead solo sound was a tweaked fretless bass patch from the now ancient (but not yet fossilized) Korg M1r, a rack mounted version of the Korg M1 keyboard that was popular at the time.
We had such fun creating and sharing this music and many lasting memories and friendships were made. We are looking to do a reunion project in 2020!
In the meantime, please listen and/or download a copy for free!