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it's christmas manIt's Christmas, Man!
1992 Rounder CD 3099; 1991

We're not kidding - here's a whole album of BRAVE COMBO performing their uniquely mutated versions of your favorite and soon-to-be-favorite holiday songs! Originally recorded for a Japanese label, the album was so much fun that Rounder Records couldn't help but release it in the states. Brave Combo's ingenious musical juxtapositions capture the holiday spirit at its merriest - imagine a ska arrangement of "The Christmas Song," or "O, Christmas Tree" as a samba.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah everybody - we hope you enjoy singing and dancing along.

1. Must Be Santa POLKA (Moore/Fredericks)

2. 0, Christmas Tree SAMBA (Trad. German folk song/Amsco Music Publishing)

3. It's Christmas CHA CHA (Finch/No Class Music, BMI)

4. Corrido Navideño RANCHERA (Hernandez/Don Cenobio Music, BMI)

5. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts) SKA (Torme and Wells/Edwin H. Morris)

6. Christmas In July (Hernandez and Barnes/Don Cenobio Music, BMI)

7. Please Come Home For Christmas (Brown and Red/Fort Knox Music, BMI)

8. Hanukkah, Hanukkah HORA (Trad.)

9. Frosty the Snowman (Trad.)

10. The Little Drummer Boy GUAGUANCO (Davis, Onorati, Simeone/Mills Music, Inc.)

11. Santa's Polka POLKA (Hernandez and Barnes/Don Cenobio Music, BMI)

12. Feliz Navidad CUMBIA (Feliciano/J & H Publishing Co.)

13. Ave Maria (Shubert/Carl Fisher, Ind.)

14. Buon Natale WALTZ (Saffer and Linale/Ivan Mogull)

15. Jingle Bells (Trad.)


We never considered recording a Christmas album before. Everyone had already heard most of the famous songs enough for a lifetime and the challenge to make them fresh would be immense. Plus, Brave Combo walks a pretty thin line between novelty and serious anyway. A Christmas album would just never have Crossed our minds. However, in early 1991, during our second trip to Japan, a man from P-Vine Records asked us if we would be interested in the idea. "What, an album of Japanese Christmas music?" I asked. "No, there are no Japanese Christmas songs," he replied, which meant to me that he wanted an album of standard melodies and songs that Americans hear and sing every winter. It seems that Christmas is a big holiday in Japan as well, stripped of all religious significance: a time of indulgent buying and gift-giving (a Japanese art) when Jesus Christ is acknowledged, but no more important an icon than Frosty, the Snowman. The idea was definitely interesting. We could choose a bunch of our favorite Christmas songs, mutate them into new shapes and release them in Japan only. Plus P-Vine had big plans. They would re-release it every year and perhaps it would become a classic. If the album came out too corny for jaded western ears, it wouldn't matter. No one in the U.S. would even have to know about it.

We decided to do it! It was strange recording Christmas music in the early summer and working out arrangements for sunburned audiences. But Brave Combo thrives on bizarre juxtapositions. Upon its release in December, 1991, we toured Japan again and played songs mainly from this album, and even shared the stage with a fully-decorated Christmas tree. Watching the efficient road crew carefully pack up that tree and load it into the equipment truck every night was worth the whole experience. The project had become the perfect Brave Combo thing to do after all, so we offered it to Rounder. They wanted to release it and suggested an addition: A Hanukkah song. This was no problem; horas are one of our specialties.

So, all year I've been anticipating this moment. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah everybody! We've assembled a fine assortment of holiday standards and even composed four brand new Christmas songs. This is Brave Combo at its seasonal best. We hope you enjoy dancing and singing along.