Herb Alpert - The Christmas Wish (With Symphony And Choir) (2017) [HDTracks]

It may have taken almost fifty years for Herb Alpert to follow up his well regarded Christmas album From 1968, but I think that music lovers of traditional sounding Christmas instrumental music of the 1950's and 1960's will find his new gem, The Christmas Wish, well worth the wait. Alpert himself has said he's been contemplating a new Christmas album with a symphonic orchestral accompaniment for a long time and was waiting for the right arranger to come around at the right time.
Mr. Alpert feels he has found that missing musical link with the brilliant trumpeter/arranger Chris Walden, well known for his great work with Michael Bublé on his worldwide bestselling Christmas album. It seems the perfect musical match as the magnificent arranger blends the 45 piece orchestra beautifully with Mr. Alpert's splendid 10 piece rhythm section and a 30 member choir that is seamless and one group never gets in the way of the other on this fantastic collection of almost all standards, with the one exception being his wife, Lana's beautiful vocal take on the title cut, "The Christmas Wish."
What a great throwback album to the Golden Age of Christmas Music when Percy Faith and Mantovani used their magnificent orchestras and brilliant arranging skills to dominate the new medium of stereo in the late fifties before music became over processed and artificial. This great album was recorded at the famed Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood where Frank and Nat King Cole cut so many of their great albums.
My hats off to Mr. Alpert apparently sparing no expense or effort to do this the old fashioned way, with fantastic musicians and singers and an awesome arranger to create a modern Christmas classic for our time!