The Marimba Duo have a reliable recipe for a beguiling and unusual album of holiday music. Take a mind-boggling variety of percussion instruments: a marimba, a vibraphone, drums of every description, varieties of bells and cymbals, and a mix of smaller instruments that can be struck or shaken. Arrange a generous mixture of songs and tunes, from Tchaikovsky to Mel Torme. Add some humor and fun. Record and mix well.
The Marimba Duo (Marty Shadd and John Seydewitz) calls the Milwaukee area home. They first began playing together in college for their own amusement and to develop their mallet keyboard skills. Then they began arranging familiar holiday songs to liven up their practices and performing them in public. After many requests from their audiences, they went into a local studio in 1995 and recorded a holiday album, which I bought after stumbling across one of their performances while Christmas shopping in a local mall.
Their style can only be described as eclectic. The second cut is an interesting medley sandwiching the traditional "Carol of the Bells" between verses of "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" before ending with the popular "A Holly Jolly Christmas." Their arrangement of "Deck the Halls" adds timpani and cymbal crashes underneath the vibraphone and marimba, "Frosty the Snowman" features the vibraphone and bells playing the melody over a very Latin-sounding marimba/conga drum/bongo rhythm section, and "Skaters Waltz" sounds very much like a music box. The standout tracks are their arrangements of three pieces from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker: "March of the Wooden Soldiers," the "Arab Dance" (an Arabic melody in 3/4 time), and the "Russian Trepak," a vigorous dance.
The Duo are happy to stick to playing their instruments: the only voices you'll hear are crowd sounds from skating rinks or other outdoor winter scenes credited as sound effects provided by Peter Buffett. Shadd and Seydewitz play all the other instruments on the album. Their arrangements treat the pieces with respect and affection while managing to have some fun. The production is very clean and keeps the focus on the players.
"A Percussion Yuletide" is a special treat for fans of percussion who have been good little girls and boys this year; it's also a pleasing confection for typical music fans who want something off the beaten track.
