Dani Meier, Bass and Vice President of Artistic Administration
“Carol of the Bells” from Trombones Under the Tree
by Joseph Alessi, Carl Lenthe, M. Dee Stewert, and Mark Lawrence
“Nutcracker Sketches” from Trombones Under the Tree
by Joseph Alessi, Carl Lenthe, M. Dee Stewert, and Mark Lawrence
“Jingle Bells” from Jingle All the Way by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Christmas Oratorio – BWV 248 #41 “Ich Will Nur Zu Ehren Leben” from Jingle All the Way by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
“Sleigh Ride” from Jingle All the Way by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
“Every year, I return to the exact same playlist for my holiday fix. It's got the more normal go-tos like A Charlie Brown Christmas, but the vast majority of this list is occupied by Trombones Under the Tree, a collaboration of four incredible trombonists, and Jingle All the Way
by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. The first because my husband (Omaha Symphony Principal Trombone Patrick Pfister) brainwashed me, and you really can't have Christmas without glorious, glorious arrangements like ‘Carol of the Bells’ and ‘Nutcracker Sketches’ for trombone quartet. It's like being wrapped in this velvet, cinnamon-spiced sound.
“Jingle All the Way not only has the outrageous talent of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, but they added double bass all-star and demi-god Edgar Meyer. Their take on Bach's ‘Ich will nur zu Ehren leben’ from the Christmas Oratorio bops around my head during every Christmas errand and busy sequence around Omaha. I also recommend their ‘Sleigh Ride’ which is—ah—well, they lost the reins about two miles back and the horse is GROOVING.”