Product DescriptionThe Twelve Minutes of Christmas is the debut release from the 26 year-old Canadian pop crooner, Matt Forbes. Hailed for his hip, youthful approach to the Great American Songbook, Forbes recorded this album of holiday favorites at the world-famous Capitol Studios in Hollywood. The Twelve Minutes of Christmas features brand-new arrangements of four timeless classics, performed by a group of world-class, first-call musicians. In reimagining these songs for 2014, Forbes enlisted the talents of acclaimed composer/arranger, Callum Au, whose recent assignments have included arranging for the BBC Big Band, RTE Concert Orchestra, Metropole Orkest and Grammy® nominee, Jamie Cullum. The EP kicks off with a hard-swinging (and decidedly-cheeky) rendering of Irving Berlin's 'White Christmas', which then leads into a wistful, contemporary reimagining of Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane's, 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas'. Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn's lesser-known gem, 'The Christmas Waltz' is given a warm, unabashedly nostalgic treatment here while Forbes concludes the EP by paying homage to that grandfather of all Christmas music, Bing Crosby, with R. Alex Anderson s charming and ever-catchy, 'Mele Kalikimaka'. In a market over-saturated with Christmas releases from would-be pop stars, Forbes has managed to craft an album that cuts through the noise and evokes those classic Christmas albums of yore, all while giving audiences a fresh contemporary sound that's all his own. Advance Praise "The latest promotional gem is a four-tune CD by smooth-voiced Matt Forbes featuring Christmas songs — including a sassy big band version of "White Christmas". I was thinking as I listened to this package that it's nice when the old generation fades away, a new and very excellent singer like Matt comes along. He may not be a replacement for Frank Sinatra, but he certainly fills the vacuum left by those great singers of yore." — Claude Hall, Former Radio-TV Editor, Billboard Magazine "Matt has put together an amazing album…it swings great, he sounds great and it's one holiday album that you will want to hear again and again…bravo!" — Ron Jones, Grammy® & Emmy-nominated Composer — Family Guy, Star Trek: The Next Generation "Jingle All the Way" this holiday with Matt Forbes! Matt's delivery of these holiday gems will certainly bring "Joy to Your World"…the charts are creative and crackling with cheer!" — Richie "LaBamba" Rosenberg, Musician, Bandleader & Longtime Featured Player — Late Night with Conan O'Brien & CONAN "So 'The Twelve Minutes of Christmas' with Matt Forbes arrived…WOW. Finally a new outstanding recording of 'White Christmas' and other Christmas songs that we have been hoping for, for years. Forbes is an outstanding new talent and the arrangements are KOOL with a "K". This EP will be played on every station playing Christmas music!" — Roger Carroll, Legendary Broadcaster, Announcer & Radio Personality (KABC/WMPC) About the ArtistMatt Forbes is the 26 year-old Canadian who's setting a new standard for standards. Bringing, hip, youthful interpretations to the Great American Songbook, he has garnered considerable acclaim in Los Angeles, where he regularly performs at top jazz venues with his own Big Little Band. More recently, Forbes opened for the Emmy award-winning Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, Ted) at Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood.
