Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

There are two points you might like to consider before deciding whether to ask Santa to put this in your stocking this Christmas. If you have never heard or even heard of the Annie Moses Band, is a triple CD set the best place to start? And if you are already an admirer, how much of this set is already in your collection? Basically, this is a three album reissue of, in chronological order, 'Christmas Bright And Beautiful' from 2008 and 'This Glorious Christmas' from the same year plus the live 'Christmas With The Annie Moses Band' from the following year. Given the nature of Christmas albums there is also a deal of overlap with four songs appearing on all three discs: "Sussex Carol", "Go Tell It On The Mountain", "What Child Is This" (which we probably know better as "Greensleeves"), and "We Three Kings". In brief, the Annie Moses Band is a family affair, named after the great-grandmother of the five members that form the core of the group: Annie (lead vocals, violin), Alex (viola, background vocals), Benjamin (cello), Gretchen (violin, mandolin) and Camille (harp, keyboards). The precocious siblings handle their father's dazzling arrangements (Bill Wolaver composes, arranges and plays piano) under the watchful eye of Robin (mom) Wolaver, who is also a vocalist and lyricist with the group. If that wasn't sufficient, 10 year old Jeremiah also occasionally plays guitar with the band. Elsewhere on this website our esteemed editor describes the music as being "chamber pop" - an amalgam of classical, jazz, pop, bluegrass and adult contemporary - and who am I to disagree? The first album is instrumental and, of the three, is my favourite. Although the vocals on the other two albums are well sung they come across as just on the sickly side of sweet for this grumpy old reviewer's ears. When the band are in full flow my feet were tapping and for the intricate interplay between skilful players who clearly know one another's game inside out, the closest comparison I can come up with is Iona. I enjoyed most of the three albums but if I was buying them for myself I think I would go for the instrumental 'Christmas Bright and Beautiful', unless I found the box set on special offer.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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