Christmas Eve (Jazz Combo)

Hello everyone, here is a little ditty I whipped up for @Left Unexplained 's Christmas music project / event. It's kinda sappy, and I'm not very well-versed in jazz writing, but I think it turned out OK. 

I had originally planned to do a big orchestral thing based on an old fragment of mine, but I couldn't really reconcile that with my actual feelings about Christmas Eve -- my favorite part of the holiday season. It's the time when all the stress finally melts away and you can spend a nice evening with your family. 

Of course, there could be more verses attached, but I thought I would refrain from belaboring the point, especially since these are fake instruments with a bassoon instead of a human voice. I also thought that in a real performance, there'd be more of an element of improvisation, but that's kind of hard to capture in a scenario like this.

The sappy lyrics are in the PDF score under the vocal line, but here they are in case you'd prefer to read them this way:

On Christmas Eve,
We'll bundle in our sweaters and our overcoats
And all our cars will clutter up the driveway
And as we say hello, we'll lament the lack of snow

And then we'll all come in,
And holly will be wrapped around the banister
The sound of all the children laughing can be heard
It seems not long ago that we were in their place

Over the years, some have come, some have gone
But I think it's comforting to hear those same old songs
The world outside keeps spinning faster and faster all the time
But it's good to hear those same old songs

(On Christmas Eve...)

Comments and criticism are very welcome. Thanks for listening. Merry Christmas! 🎄

This is so sweet and I love it! Every part, sappy lyrics and all! It fits the holidays perfectly and captures feelings that I can very much relate to! Great job!

Cool stuff 🙂 

It's very "christmassy" while having a mood of it's own. 

Yes! It's very nice and sweet. 

Thank you all for your kind comments! @KJthesleepdeprived @Jean Szulc @Luis Hernández

Man, you on to something here.  Needs a countermelody.

Thanks @maestrowick! I think you're right -- a muted trumpet or clarinet might fit in nicely for that. Thanks for the suggestion!

Hi Noah:

This is great..  It could start as  a great Jazz tune, but with Xmas feel, you give it double duty which is perfect.  Possibly the kick a bit busy.   In two places at 45 seconds and 1:13 the chord makes my left eyebrow go up.  It's really a small detail.  The melody and chords really give it a very valid  'sentimental' quality, which I love.  I should learn this piece, to see if I can get some insight into emotion you invoke so skillfully. 

it's something incredible, you gave me a sense of celebration, brought Christmas closer. Although this is a kind of European I would say Christmas, a bit modern, but so warm. Thanks

6 hours ago, Harrysalvatore1989 said:

 

it's something incredible, you gave me a sense of celebration, brought Christmas closer. Although this is a kind of European I would say Christmas, a bit modern, but so warm. Thanks

 

Thanks for your kind comments! I'm hoping there is another Christmas music event this year because I think the last one produced some great pieces from users across the site