Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Danny Fratina’s arrangement of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” starts with a dense and adventurous intro that superimposes the melody over a dissonant ensemble of flutes, clarinets, muted trumpets, and strings – meant to represent the sounds of snowfall and stained glass. Once that resolves, the instrumentation becomes sparser to allow Jen Hirsh’s beautiful voice to shine through with all its subtle jazz inflections and stylings.

Here is a video of Fratina conducting the string section during the studio recording of this song:

Visit the MUSIC page to listen to an audio sample and to buy the mp3 or the album CD.

CREDITS for the “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” studio recording by the Beantown Swing Orchestra:

Danny Fratina – conductor
Jen Hirsh – vocal
Rick Stone – alto sax, flute
Arthur Felluca – alto sax, clarinet
Leon Cotter – tenor sax, flute
Tucker Antell – tenor sax, clarinet
Melanie Howell – bari sax, clarinet
Alex Lee-Clark – trumpet
Don Clough – trumpet
Vivek Patel – trumpet
Chris Rymes – trumpet
Ryan Dragon – trombone (solo)
Randy Pingrey – trombone (solo – intro)
Tim Lienhard – trombone
David Roth – bass trombone
Steve Boudreau – piano
Chris Brown – guitar
Genevieve Rose – bass
Austin McMahon – drums
Fung Chern Hwei – violin
Audrey Wright – violin
Shelby Trevor – violin
Anna Williams – violin
Alina Czekala – violin
Orie Furuta – violin
Enosh Kofler – violin
Qianqian Li – violin
Jing Zhang – violin
Joanna Mattrey – viola
Keith Sanders – viola
Sam Gold – viola
Jeremy Harman – cello
Emily Taubl – cello
Mischa Veselov – cello

• Written by Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin.
• Arranged by Danny Fratina.
• Big band recorded by Robert Auld and Dave Snyder at Guilford Sound in Guilford, Vermont on August 14, 2011.
• Jen Hirsh’s vocals recorded by Max Coane at Mid City Sound in Los Angeles, CA on September 7, 2011.
• Chris Brown’s guitar recorded by Matt Hayes at Wellspring Sound in Acton, Massachusetts on September 15, 2011.
• Strings recorded by John Weston at Futura Productions in Boston, MA on September 10, 2011.
• Mixed by Robert Auld at Auldworks in NYC.
• Mastered by Allan Tucker at TuckerSound / Foothill Digital in New Rochelle, NY.