Christmas time is here and that means I can officially turn on the Christmas music without being reprimanded by my 6-year-old for having incorrectly seasoned music (seriously, until the day after Thanksgiving she was the Christmas Music Police).
This means I had to wait a few weeks before I could open up the copy of Elizabeth Mitchell & Friends The Sounding Joy that Smithsonian Folkways Recordings sent me to and share with our readers. I am so glad to have this new album to listen to this Christmas season!
Before I go and tell you what I love about this album first I feel that I must explain that Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States. Knowing this it makes more sense that the mission of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is to document “people’s music,” spoken word, instruction, and sounds from around the world.
The Sounding Joy is the first holiday release from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings in more than a decade and it is a true treat. This is Elizabeth Mitchell’s fifth album for Smithsonian Folkways and in it she features many friends, family, and fellow artists including her husband Daniel Littleton and daughter Storey.
The album is a 24-song collection of Christmas and solstice songs from American folk tradition. Because I cannot say it better myself let me share a little from the press release about the album :: Drawn almost exclusively from the often overlooked but deeply influential songbook of revered composer and anthologist Ruth Crawford Seeger, these songs evoke an era before mass media and the commercialization of Christmas, when sacred song, dance, contemplation, and gathering were prized above all else during the holiday season.
Beyond my enjoyment in listening to these songs I truly appreciated the history lesson I received from reading the enclosed liner notes. There I found out a mini-lesson about Ruth Crawford Seeger and her influence on American folk music.
If you’re looking for a great Christmas album that is about, well Christmas, then look no further. Very simple, but very sweet, The Sounding Joy is sure to be on our holiday music rotation for years to come. Right now you can go take a listen on their website and even get a FREE DOWNLOAD of “Children, Go Where I Send Thee.”
The Sounding Joy :: $14.98 physical album or download it for $9.99
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