Everett, Wash.
Published: Friday, December 19, 2008

This week: The music scene takes a holiday

Seasonal fare tops the bills locally as touring musicians take an end-of-the-year break.

By Sharon Wootton
Special to The Herald

 Not much happening on the music scene through the end of the year, with most musicians taking a break until after the holidays. After that the music options will pick up: Blue Note Records' 70th Anniversary Tour, Kellie Pickler, O.A.R., Styx, Edwin McCain Trio and others.

Here are a few of the current options:

Holiday with the Classics: The second annual concert benefits the MAX Foundation in Edmonds, which helps leukemia patients around the world. Vocalists in arias and ensembles of classical music and holiday spirit and instrumental solos are part of the evening.

Featured are soprano Julie Sigars, mezzo soprano Ute-Christiane Freund, tenor Gregory Carroll and bass Paul Linnes; plus pianist Mark Salman and cellist Brad Hawkins. Selections include "O Holy Night," "Pie Jesu" and "Ave Maria."



Celtic Yuletide: The Boulding family takes its traditional holiday show north. The concert combines Celtic harps, hammered dulcimers, whistles, concertina, strings, a few generations of the Philip and Pam Boulding family, the Raney Dancers, lyrical juggler Thomas Arthur, a children's choir singing Irish songs in Gaelic, and a magical tale of the Celtic St. Bridget.



Holly Cole: The Toronto chanteuse is touring with a quartet of musicians. She started her holiday concert tradition 12 years ago, a mix of jazz and pop standards that fall into the winter holiday category. She's had several well-received albums and anthologies plus work on TV specials. Cole's latest non-holiday release, "Holly Cole," was nominated for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year as part of this year's Juno awards.



Gypsy Soul: Enjoy the third annual Gypsy Soul Christmas Concert, presented by KBCS 91.3. The haunting voice of Cilette Swann and the songwriting of Roman Morykit have created a soulful, acoustic rock with Celtic-meets-Americana roots presentation while selling more than 100,000 independent CDs. Their music has aired in 14 countries and on U.S. television shows such as "Providence," "Roswell" and "The Young & the Restless." This concert features the full Gypsy Soul band.



David Lanz: The Grammy-nominated Seattle resident presents his annual hometown concert. His approach is to create an atmosphere with a popular hook that provides entertainment and enlightenment. This year he released a CD, "Living Temples," with Gary Stroutsos, and a solo piano CD, "Painting the Sun."



Smokey Joe's Cafe: The longest running musical review in Broadway history continues its run in Seattle with about 40 timeless songs, including "Hound Dog," "Spanish Harlem" and "I'm a Woman." The band takes classic pop and turns it into musical theater, a show that has toured through nearly a dozen countries.
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