Wrapping: Richard the red nose frosty beard meets a polar bear.
Style: … er, Christmas Guitars. Think Steve Hackett meets Julian Bream.
Content: Eighteen mainly original songs, all beautifully played by one of the UK’s leading concert guitarists, with haunting vocals from Amy Kakoura, most notably on Emmanuel and A Northern Winter Night.
Tis the reason to be jolly: Wonderful virtuoso playing, with a hint of Christmas, but without the usual mawkishness.
Scrooge moan: For some reason Barry Cryer turns up, so does a school choir, which is just as bad.
White Christmas? No, and the album is the better for it.
Blue Christmas? Not at all. This is a strange offering but would make a welcome antidote to the usual Perry Como-esque Christmas schmaltz.
Stocking or shocking? Hard to say who you would buy this for. Musically it is outstanding, but a Christmas present for Christmas Day? Probably not.
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