| Octave Records Celebrates the Holidays With Two New Christmas Albums — Charlie Brown Goes to The Nutcracker by Ron LeGault’s jazz quintet, and guitarist Alfredo Muro’s The Spirit of Christmas offer musical holiday cheer in stunning Pure DSD sound– Boulder, Colorado, November, 2023 – Octave Records warmly invites everyone to celebrate the holiday spirit with two uplifting new releases: Charlie Brown Goes to The Nutcracker by the Ron LeGault quintet, and The Spirit of Christmas by internationally-renowned guitarist Alfredo Muro. Ron LeGault puts a jazz spin on the beloved Charlie Brown soundtrack music and the holiday classic The Nutcracker, while Alfredo Muro brings a heartfelt intimacy and virtuoso performances to a wide range of seasonal favorites. Both albums are recorded with extraordinary sound using Octave Records’ exclusive Pure DSD high-resolution audio process. Pianist Ron LeGault has been performing his Charlie Brown Goes to The Nutcracker show to packed audiences at the St Julien Hotel in Boulder, Colorado for more than 10 years. “The band and I have wanted to capture the show for posterity, and Octave Records gave us the opportunity. We are thrilled to be able to present this music for everyone to now enjoy.” Recorded live in the studio, the album captures the confident yet relaxed interplay that only comes from years of playing together, with Ron joined by Andrew Vogt (tenor sax, baritone sax, clarinet, flute), Curtis Fox (trombone), Dave Weinand (bass) and Andreas Schmid (drums).The quintet performs a host of Charlie Brown tunes like the familiar “Linus and Lucy,” the “Charlie Brown Theme,” “Christmas is Coming,” and others, along with jazz-laced versions of pieces from The Nutcracker including the iconic holiday classic “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.” Added to the mix, the quintet plays a wry, swinging take on “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.”  Alfredo Muro is a concert guitarist, composer, arranger, and improviser. He’s been described as a Latin guitar virtuoso, yet his styles and tastes are far more wide-ranging, from the classical repertoire to folk, jazz, Brazilian and more. He noted, “The idea of the program presented on The Spirit of Christmas was to choose traditional Christmas themes, combined with Christmas music popular in Spain and South America. Many of those songs are connected to my heart – they are part of my childhood in Latin America.”The selections range from holiday standards like “Silent Night,” “The Christmas Song” and “White Christmas” to spiritual works such as “Jesus Bleibet Meine Freude” (“Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”) and “Ave Maria, and songs that are deeply personal to Muro including “Preludio de Adiós” and “El Noi de la Mare.” Muro’s Paco Santiago Marin classical guitar has a deeply rich tone with a wide color palette and superb dynamic nuances, all captured in remarkable fidelity. On “Villancico de Navidad,” Alfredo is joined by guitarists Robert Chirico, Adam Buer and Felicity Muench and bassist Allen Bossard, to close The Spirit of Christmas on a beautiful and graceful note. The albums, available on disc or via download, were recorded, mixed and produced by Paul McGowan at Octave Records’ studio, with assistance from Jessica Carson, Alfredo Muro, Ron LeGault, and Terri McGowan. Both albums were mastered by Gus Skinas. Charlie Brown Goes to The Nutcracker and The Spirit of Christmas feature Octave’s premium gold disc formulation, and the discs are playable on any SACD, CD, DVD, or Blu-ray player. They also have a high-resolution DSD layer that is accessible by using any SACD player or a PS Audio SACD transport. In addition, the master DSD and PCM files are available for purchase and download, including DSD 256, DSD 128, DSD 64, and DSDDirect Mastered 352.8 kHz/24-bit, 176.2 kHz/24-bit, 88.2 kHz/24-bit, and 44.1 kHz/24-bit PCM. (SRP: $19usd – $39usd, depending on format.) |
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