(Above: Vocalists Shirley Andress, Bill Hulings and Marisa Frantz perform in All is Bright!)
Shirley Andress feels “humbled and grateful” that after more than a year of pandemic-related fear and isolation, she and a group of her fellow vocalists and instrumentalists are able to share a celebration of the Christmas season once again with audiences at The Shedd in Eugene and the LaSells Stewart Center in Corvallis.
In fact, they are calling this show, All is Bright!, at once acknowledging the difficulties endured by so many and expressing hope for a happier future.
For Andress, Christmas embraces those extremes, offering “a feeling of hope and a longing for peace,” she said in announcing the show. “For most of us, Christmas carols conjure up fond memories of home. They lift our odd and make us feel a little less lonely and a little more loved. There is a greater sense of giving, family, and community when we sing these songs together.”
Songs from what she calls the Great American Christmas Songbook — among them standards such as “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “Silver Bells,” “The Christmas Song” and “Silent Night” — “make us feel better, not just about the past or present, but also about the future,” she said. “There is a greater sense of giving, family, and community when we sing these songs together.”
And All is Bright! will offer a great many of them. Andress is artistic director as well as a vocalist for the show, with Vicki Brabham as bandleader, pianist, and vocalist. The other singers will be Marisa Frantz, Bill Hulings, and Dylan Stasack.
Instrumentalists besides Brabham include Sean Peterson on bass, Matthew Taylor on reeds, trumpeter Dave Bender, and trombonist Glenn Griffith.
All is Bright!: A Jazz Kings Christmas
When and where:
- 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 8; Jaqua Concert Hall, The Shedd, 868 High St., Eugene
- 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 12; Jaqua Concert Hall, The Shedd, 285 E. Broadway, Eugene (corner of Broadway and High streets)
- 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 15, Austin Auditorium, LaSells Stewart Center, Oregon State University, 875 SW 26th St., Corvallis
Tickets:
- $15.75 to $36 (Eugene)
- $19.50-$30 (Corvallis)
The program
Set 1
Silent Night — (1818, Josef Mohr and Franz Gruber)
It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year — (1963, George Wyle and Edward Pola)
Every Day’s A Holiday — (1937, Sam Coslow and Barry Trivers)
The Christmas Waltz — (1954, Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne)
White Christmas — (1942, Irving Berlin)
Warm December —(1956, Bob Russell)
In The Gloaming By The Fireside — (1931, Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly, and Ray Noble)
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas — (1944, Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane)
I Believe — (1947, Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne)
The Man With The Bag — (1950, Dudley Brooks, Hal Stanley, and Irving Taylor)
Frosty The Snow Man — (1950, Jack Rollins and Steve Nelson)
Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer — (1949, Johnny Marks)
Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town — (1934, Haven Gillespie and J. Fred Coots)
Set 2
The Twelve Days Of Christmas — (1909, traditional French words, music by Frederic Austin)
Christmas In Killarney — (1950, James Cavanaugh, John Redmond, and Frank Weldon)
Good King Wenceslas — (1853, John Mason Neale and Thomas Helmore)
The Little Drummer Boy — (1941, Katherine K. Davis)
O Holy Night — (1855, John Sullivan Dwight and Adolphe Adam, with Cantique de Noël melody)
Angels We Have Heard On High — (c 1860, James Chadwick, traditional French tune)
O Come, All Ye Faithful — (1841, Frederick Oakeley)
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing — (1739/1840, Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, and Felix Mendelssohn)
Joy To The World — (1719/1839, Isaac Watts, traditional English tune)
Silent Night — (1818, Josef Mohr and Franz Gruber)
Deck The Halls — (1862, traditional Welsh, Thomas Oliphant and John Jones)
Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree — (1958, Johnny Marks)
The Christmas Song — (1944, Bob Wells and Mel Tormé)
I’ll Be Home For Christmas — (1943, Kim Gannon and Walter Kent)
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! — (1945, Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne)
Jingle Bells — (1857, James Lord Pierpont)
Christmas Auld Lang Syne — (1960, Mann Curtis and Frank Military, traditional Scottish tune)
May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You — (1950, Meredith Willson)
