Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

I'll be honest, I'm kinda into Christmas. More to the point, I'm REALLY into great Christmas music and have already listened to The Pogues' "Fairytale of New York" several times. 

And now that we're knocking on December's door and it could literally snow any second, I'm all the more into it.

So it was a delightfully joyful and triumphant day when "Jingle These Bells" by local 18-piece big band The Fogcutters fogcuttersbigband.com landed on my desk.

It's a 5-song EP featuring the vocals of Stephanie Davis and Chas Lester.

Here are the 5 songs and my adjectives to explain why I highly recommend you dash away to Bull Moose Music or wassail your way here thefogcutters.bandcamp.com

1. "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen:" dramatic, snappy, brassy, instrumental, invigorating, exciting

2. "Silent Night;" reflective, lovely, rich, piano-laced, nostalgic, graceful, vocally supreme, hopeful and man, those horns...

3. "Oh, Christmas Tree:" swingin', snap-inducing, snare-drummy, sing-along inducing, dance inducing  and yes, those magic horns

4. "The First Noel:" poignant, powerful, honest, gentle, inspiring, calming

5. "Jingle Bells:" the icing on this EP's cake, drum debazzling, olde-time bing band-y, fresh, zippy, head bobbing, old-fashioned, new fashioned, grab your partner and hit the dance floor-y, Sinatra-y and daddy-o those horns!

p.s. Look for another Fogcutter's related post next week. Big Band Syndrome II hits the State on December 7. I missed it last year, but will be there with assorted sleigh bells this year!

About the Author

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Aimsel Ponti has been obsessed with - and inspired by- music since she listened to Monkees records borrowed from the town library when she was six years old. She's a huge fan of the local music scene and interviews an act every week for "Making Noise" which runs in the Press Herald GO section. You'll also find her out and about absorbing live music like a sponge and roaming around local record shops and flea markets.

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