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God Rest Ye Groovy Gentlemen

Music of Sally Greenaway

Jazz and Christmas have become a tradition the world over - but here's something fresh to add to your Vince Guaraldi and Diana Krall Xmas Playlists...

This toe-tapping number, God Rest Ye Groovy Gentlemen, will put you into the Christmas mood while you decorate your tree and prep your house for the festive season.

Sally Greenaway's swinging big band arrangement of this classic carol pays homage to the golden age of the big band whilst keeping a foot firmly in the modern big band sound. It's a toe-tapping jaunt on one of the oldest and most loved Christmas carols.

Sally Greenaway's love affair with big bands is no secret - she has conducted many big bands and written a range of big band charts (a few of them are featured on her album Dig This: Exploring the Big Band).

Big bands have been instrumental for composers and arrangers throughout almost every era in jazz history. From Duke Ellington and Count Basie, to Stan Kenton and Buddy Rich, to Michel Camilo and Maria Schneider and many more who have forged their voices in this ultimate jazz medium. Sally Greenaway is a local Canberra and Australian composer who contributes to the big band canon with music that is fun to play and audiences love.

Her foray into writing for big band began with her piece Falling of Seasons, written for the Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra. She took part in their highly acclaimed National Big Band Composition Competition in 2008, which is broadcast on ABC Classic FM's Jazztrack with Mal Stanley. Her piece won the award that year - and at that moment she became addicted to the incredible rush and excitement that comes from the inevitable combination of arranged and improvised elements in jazz orchestration.

She has since been working with big bands all around the country who have performed her music to great public toe-tapping satisfaction.

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Credits

Artistic director & arranger:

Sally Greenaway

Instrumentation & performers:
  • Justin Buckingham*, Ruslan Babajanov - saxophones
  • Jon-Paul Frappier, Peter Levan - trumpets
  • Darren Ormsby, Gavin Stephens - trombones
  • Greg Stott* - guitar
  • Sally Greenaway - piano
  • Scott Temby - bass
  • Stephen Richards - drums

* soloist

Audio engineers:
  • Duncan Lowe - Lead mixing engineer
  • Kimmo Vennonen - Mastering engineer
  • Sally Greenaway
  • David Monro, Greg Stott, Jon-Paul Frappier
Music video production:
  • Sally Greenaway
Location recording:
  • Recorded (mostly) at Greenaway Studio, Canberra

Copyright © ℗ 2022 Sally Greenaway

Projects like this are made possible thanks to philanthropic support.

Sally Greenaway gratefully acknowledges the significant contributions of her generous donors:

Patrons

  • Peter Barta
  • Yu-Lan Chan
  • Anonymous (ACT)
  • Julie Evans
  • Carol Le Brocq
  • Paul Charles Leopardi
  • Simon Mitchell
  • Antony Paltridge
  • Glenn Stephens
  • Judith Lorraine Thomson

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