Hello Mr. Feliciano:

If you've kept up with my recent blog entries, you know that I'm on off on a serious ethnic Christmas kick. In the most recent Better Living Through MP3 we got our Yiddish rocks off with Stanley Adams and Sid Wayne's Chanukah Carols. I compared that feast of melodic Matzoh balls and rhythmic latkes to "Mel Brooks, Larry David and Sid Caesar collaborating on Yiddish versions of Christmas classics. Poems are subverted for Yiddish tastes, ‘Deck the Halls' is deranged into a hilarious Jewish party (‘Deck the halls with loaves and latkes'), while ‘Let's Put The ‘Ch' Back In Chanukah' suggests replacing gift giving with pool playing and wearing a yarmukle."

Before that, The Klezmatics banged the village drum quickly on Woody Guthrie's Happy Joyous Hanukkah, The Von Trapp Children let their Austrian tonsils hang out with their new release, Snow: New Songs of the Season, and Woody Phillips' A Toolbox Christmas showed that even screwdrivers, hammers and saws love a bit of Christmas cheer. You had to hear it to believe it. (Refer to previous Better Living Through MP3 posts to download said tunes.)

Today it's time for a Latin Christmas festivus. The Mambo Folk's A Latin Christmas Fiesta- A Rhythmic Collection of Seasonal Sambas, Merry Mambos & Christmas Cha Chas! won't be confused with Tito Puente or Ruben Blades, but this charming instrumental group offer Latinized Christmas classics that are one step ahead of shopping mall soundtracks. Every possible Christmas carol, traditional hymn and Xmas morning cheer-jerker is here, from "Joy to the World!" and "Jingle Bells/We Wish You a Merry Christmas" to "Silent Night!" and "The First Noel."

I often hear Christmas haters get all bugged when some radio stations switch to an all Christmas tunes repertoire during the holiday season. Count me out of that cynical attitude psychosis - I still love sending Christmas cards, slurping the egg nog, eating the Christmas pudding, and most of all, listening to the tunes! If we can't return to our childhood for Christmas, we have truly lost part of our soul. 

Anyway, The Mambo Folks are represented by three MP3s: "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," "See Amid the Winter's Snow," and "Ding! Dong! Merrily On High." Sure, this stuff is lightweight, even cheesy, but their sprit is in the right place.  Get yours there too.

The Mambo Folk
"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" (mp3)
from "A Latin Christmas Fiesta- A Rhythmic Collection of Seasonal Sambas, Merry Mambos & Christmas Cha Chas!"
(Classic Fox Records)

More On This Album

The Mambo Folk
"See Amid the Winter's Snow" (mp3)
from "A Latin Christmas Fiesta- A Rhythmic Collection of Seasonal Sambas, Merry Mambos & Christmas Cha Chas!"
(Classic Fox Records)

More On This Album

The Mambo Folk
"Ding! Dong! Merrily On High" (mp3)
from "A Latin Christmas Fiesta- A Rhythmic Collection of Seasonal Sambas, Merry Mambos & Christmas Cha Chas!"
(Classic Fox Records)

More On This Album