Album Spotlight: Sarah Brown - Emmanuel

I have a beautiful album for you today. Sarah Brown's Emmanuel is a collection of traditional Christmas carols performed on piano, with Sarah's vocals ringing clearly on top of the often upbeat and lively piano arrangements. The end result is a truly uplifting collection of music, which may be very refreshing if you have found some of my recent featured albums to be a little too eclectic for your taste. Emmanuel is definitely an album for the whole family to enjoy at this time of year.

Highlights? There are a lot on this album, but if I had to narrow it down to a few I would say "What Child is This?", which is done in an arrangement I have never heard before, with a completely different vocal melody than I am used to; "Hail the King", which features percussion and soaring vocals; and "Good King Wenceslas", which is done instrumentally. The real standout for me is "Christmas Medley", a piano tour de force which winds its way through songs like "The First Noel", "I Saw Three Ships", and "Away in a Manger". The transitions between the individual sections are very well done, and at over 9 minutes in length, the medley is something that really needs to be heard to be believed.

If you end up listening to the album, I would, as always, love to know what you think about it. Also, with only 4 days left before Christmas, we're really running out of time for featuring more music here. I still have a few things I would like to post about, but if there is something you would like to see featured here - a song, an artist, anything at all - please let me know either via email or in the comments, and I will do my best to find something that matches what you are looking for. Merry Christmas, everyone!