Tijuana Christmas

Sleeve notes: Christmas is the most joyful festival of the Christian year, when we celebrate at the same time the turning point of winter and the new hope that was brought to men with the birth of Jesus. Christmas is a time when we make up for the bleakness of the weather outside with the warmth of our spirits and it is no coincidence that the songs which have become particularly associated with Christmas should be carols, which have always been the most cheerful and often the most secular of Christian songs. On this record you will find your favourite carols in an unfamiliar guise - we've called the album 'Tijuana Christmas', but you will hear the mariachi sound taking on a richer and more varied flavour as the Torero Band bring out the charms of our most beautiful carol tunes in imaginative brand new arrangements. 'The Holly & the Ivy' sets the pace with a bright, sparkling beat that even adds to the gaiety of one of our oldest and liveliest carols; 'Silent Night' a much more recent and a more devout carol, is given quite a contrasting treatment, slow and tender. 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing' sets off again at a brisk, bouncy pace - and if you feel like dancing, why not? It may come as a surprise to you that our oldest carols used to be dances and that the word itself described a form of circular dance. In the preface to the Oxford Book of Carols you will find carols described as songs with a religious impulse that are simple, popular and modern. You'll never have heard them sounding more joyful, popular or modern than they do on this exciting and original LP