An Appalachian Christmas

Description

EDITORIAL REVIEWS Compact Disc REVIEW Equally talented as a Classical violinist and folk fiddler, Mark O'Connor was born in Seattle but his heart is in the hills and hollows of Appalachia. On this largely self-produced CD, there are blue-grass instrumentals and cosmopolitan crooners-all paying their mountain dues. Vocal tracks include Jane Monheit on ''Winter Wonderland,'' Renee Fleming on ''Amazing Grace'' and James Taylor on ''Ol' Blue.'' But the album's best moments are the earthy ''Cherry Tree Carol'' and Mr. O'Connor's own ''Appalachia Waltz.'' On ''Sleigh Ride,'' he overdubs all 10 instruments. Marc Myers --Wall Street Journal