Saw one of Spyro's Christmas shows on Thursday. Excellent as always, except for Jane Monheit singing over what was supposed to be a guitar solo.

The format was interesting. Each band member apparently recommended a particular tune for the Christmas album and each did a little verbal introduction of their particular tune and a short story of what Christmas means to them, etc. before the tune was performed.

Jay explained this procedure to the crowd and he proceeded to go first. He hesitated, looked out at the crowd and confessed, "I'm Jewish." He continued explaining what it was like during the Christmas season for him. Then he specified that 30 years ago, he married a Lutheran girl and after 20 years, they parted ways. During the 20 years, they had three children and due to the dual-religion factor in the home, they actually recognized the holidays of both faiths and the children became accustomed to having Christmas lights and a tree in the home.

Lo and behold, the ex-wife marries Jewish Congressman Steve Rothman of New Jersey. Apparently his family and I suppose his constituents wouldn't be comfortable with a similar dual-faith Holiday situation in his home. The end result became that Jay continues to put up the Christmas lights and tree and the kids come to his home every year to continue the Christmas celebration that they've grown accustomed to.

He dedicated his chosen tune to '...Congressman Steve Rothman, who makes it possible for the Christmas tradition to continue in my home...'

Wow. Good story, Gary.

Wow!!!...One of my best friend's parents are in the same deal. He's a devoted catholic and she's a Jeovah's witness!!!. I remember christams were very, very tense (in a funny way) at his house when we were kids!!!

But the beauty of this is that after 40 years, they're still married!!!

Great story, thank you so much for sharing...any more ?!

What a great story -- and so funny how traditions carry on. Thanks for sharing this one!

Hi Gary,

I was at the early XMas show in Annapolis at RamsHead on Stage, Dec. 10th. (This was my second time seeing Spyro Gyra this year.)

I'd like to fill in more of the highlights of the show, with my observations:
In deed, each band member recommended a particular tune for the Christmas album and each did a little verbal intro.

The lineup was as follows:
- "Oh Tannenbaum"

- "Have Yourself a Merry Little XMas", with Jay's intro as Gary stated.

- "I'll Be Home for XMas"

- "Winter Wonderland", with intro by Julio. Julio related the story from his youth. Being from Cuba, he had never seen snow before.

- "XMas Time is Here", with intro by Tom. Tom related a funny intro by saying that the "keyboardist finally gets a chance to speak". Jay quipped that he "had just spoken two days ago!" Tom's inspiration was Vince Guaraldi and the "Peanuts" cartoon.

-"This XMas", I think Scott introduced this one - help me out Gary! Scott was interrupted by a family member in the crowd. He acknowledged her and had a short conversation with her. He next got interrupted by Bonny B. Scott jokingly got into a conversation with Bonny. We all had a good laugh.

-"The XMas Song", this was introduced by Bonny B. The band members joked that Bonny did not know the true name of the song. Bonny stated that he knew it as the "Chestnuts song!" I tell you, he gave a great performance when he sang the song. He improvised a lot during the song, and at one point asked Tom to slow down so he could improvise some more. Scott's family member even yelled out "You Play drummer Boy!"

Next, Jay called for Jane Monheit. These were the next songs that she accompanied the band with:

- "Sleigh Ride"

- "Santa Claus is coming to Town"

- "It Won't Feel Like XMas", intro by Jay who wrote the lyrics to this song. He again brought up the divorce. We had another good laugh. One guy yelled out, "Get Over it". Per Jay, he wrote the song 'from his ex'es point of view'. If I may digress, it appears that Jay can joke about his divorce. However, I recall in an interview that Jay did last year, Jay related that he had to change the lyrics to the song. They were "tragic sounding". Terry Cox, who helped with the lyrics, asked him to change the lyrics. Read the interview: http://www.jazzreview.com/article/review-6659.html
However, in my opinion, he seems to be good natured about the divorce today.

Back to the concert on Dec. 10, 2009:

- "It's Cold Outside", a duet with Bonny B. He was pretty funny during his ad libbing!

- "Felice Navidad", the surprise on this song was that the band transitioned into "Morning Dance" during a part of the song. That got a huge ovation!

-Encore was "Silent Night"

My observations:
- I think the band had a great time playing that night. I sure enjoyed the performance.
- The guys were swamped at the end of the performance. I finally got autographs by Bonny B. and Julio. I never got a chance to even say hi to Scott (he was swamped by relatives), or Tom. I got a brief handshake with Jay, he was heading out to go eat! (The last concert, I went to, the early show, and Jay was raring to go eat at the end of that show!)
- Jane Monheit never came out to see the crowd after the performance. She seemed to be hiding in the back. So, I have no idea what she is like!
- Does anyone know if Tom still lives in Bethesda, MD? I wanted to ask him that question; however, he was swamped with folks.
- The guys appeared to be using sheet music during the performance. I thought that was unusual!
- I spoke with one of the RamsHead sound board engineers. His name is Ruben, a real nice guy. I thought he was one of the Band's engineers. He stated that there were some problems with one of the mikes during the show. If you get a chance to go to the RamsHead, say hi to him.

Scott introduced "This Christmas" as a Donnie Hathaway composition, which surprised me a little. I should have known that.

Julio sang Feliz Navidad...

Julio's description of seeing his first snow also included that at age six, his family took him to Radio City Music Hall to see the famous Christmas show. He also mentioned that because he had never seen snow, he thought it may have been sand. He dropped himself into it and made a sand/snow angel, not realizing how cold and wet it was.

I must have missed the "swamping" or I was in it and didn't even notice. Enjoyed a nice talk with Mrs. Schuman. No, they're not in Bethesda any more. They've been in Las Vegas for several years now. Around the same time, Julio told me that he appeared at Rams Head recently in the Bernie Williams band.

About the only difference between the two sets was in the second, Tom and Jane did a duet of Karen Carpenter's "Merry Christmas Darling." IMHO, it was the best thing Jane did all evening.

My better half got pecks on the cheek from half of the band. I got none. Whatzupwitdat?

Wow...sounds like a great show.....must be REALLY fun for the band to be able to play a completely different set of songs(of course they do that anyway, as every year they revamp the setlist. \

Great story about Jay and his ex....

And a Catholic and a Jehovah Witness....that is like putting a shark and a hemophilliac in the same swimming pool....at least I know that the Witnesses that have come to my door have been VERY anti Catholic....about a dozen couples over the last 20 years! LOL!!!


Peace!
Paul

Jehovah's Witness? Are you confusing this thread with another one somewhere, Paul?

Catholic? Same question as before...