Al di Meola's first so-called Christmas album is a relaxed, flowing, intensely musical affair that jazzers, world music buffs, and new agers will feel equally comfortable with.
Mostly, he steers away from the often-cracked chestnuts, composing several nice tunes of his own ("Zima," the leadoff cut, is especially inviting), playing acoustic guitar and a battery of percussion instruments and keyboards in a graceful one-man band, thanks to multi-track tape.
Other tracks feature duets between di Meola (with overdubbed additional instruments) and Roman Hrynkiv, who plays a Ukrainian zither-like instrument called the bandura.
For the die-hard consumer who must have those carols, there are intricate renditions of "The First Noel," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and "Carol of the Bells.".
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ZimaAl Di Meola | Al Di Meola | Play | 04:09 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 2 | Carol of the Bells | Al Di Meola | Play | 04:13 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 3 | Winterlude Duet No. 1Roman Hrynkiv, Al Di Meola | Al Di Meola | Play | 01:28 | 3 MB | 9 MB |
| 4 | GreensleevesTraditional | Al Di Meola | Play | 02:47 | 6 MB | 18 MB |
| 5 | Mercy StreetPeter Gabriel | Al Di Meola | Play | 04:55 | 11 MB | 33 MB |
| 6 | Have Yourself a Merry Little ChristmasRalph Blane, Hugh Martin | Al Di Meola | Play | 04:33 | 10 MB | 29 MB |
| 7 | Winterlude No. 2Roman Hrynkiv | Al Di Meola | Play | 00:51 | 1 MB | 5 MB |
| 8 | Midwinter NightsAl Di Meola | Al Di Meola | Play | 04:52 | 11 MB | 28 MB |
| 9 | Scarborough FairArt Garfunkel, Paul Simon | Al Di Meola | Play | 04:36 | 10 MB | 33 MB |
| 10 | Winterlude No. 3Roman Hrynkiv | Al Di Meola | Play | 00:47 | 1 MB | 5 MB |
| 11 | The First NoelWilliam Sandys | Al Di Meola | Play | 03:16 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 12 | InvernoAl Di Meola | Al Di Meola | Play | 05:40 | 13 MB | 38 MB |
| 13 | First SnowAl Di Meola | Al Di Meola | Play | 02:43 | 6 MB | 16 MB |
| 14 | Winterlude No. 4Al Di Meola | Al Di Meola | Play | 01:32 | 3 MB | 10 MB |
| 15 | Ave MariaFranz Schubert | Al Di Meola | Play | 04:53 | 11 MB | 23 MB |
| 51 mins | 117 MB | |||||
| 51 mins | 334 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ralph Blane | Composer |
| 2 | Anilda Carrasquillo | Art Direction, Design |
| 3 | Al Di Meola | Arranger, Cajon, Composer, Dumbek, Guitar (Acoustic), Harp, Keyboards, Mixing, Percussion, Primary Artist, Producer, Tambur |
| 4 | Peter Gabriel | Composer |
| 5 | Art Garfunkel | Composer |
| 6 | Roman Hrynkiv | Bandurria, Composer |
| 7 | Thoms Macko | Design |
| 8 | Hugh Martin | Composer |
| 9 | Spyros Poulos | Digital Editing, Engineer, Mixing |
| 10 | Hernan Romero | Guitar (Acoustic), Mixing, Percussion, Production Assistant, Shaker |
| 11 | William Sandys | Composer |
| 12 | Franz Schubert | Composer |
| 13 | Paul Simon | Composer |
| 14 | Rich Tozzoli | Engineer, Mixing |
| 15 | Traditional | Composer |
| 16 | Robert Woods | Executive Producer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |