By Front Row Reviewers Staff
Christmas At Last – the Spirit of Christmas delivered by masked musicians
During the closing months of 2020, music was all but silenced in Los Angeles. Seeing so many talented musicians out of work, one longtime singer/songwriter decided to create an opportunity that would turn the tide in the holiday music scene. TV composer and longtime L.A. vocalist Sonja Eddings Brown asked Hollywood recording studios to allow her to work through L.A.’s studio restrictions, and then put dozens of musicians back to work. It was incredibly difficult to produce “sound” when the very act of breathing was restricted, but Brown and her partner TV composer Brad G. Smith managed to turn out a rare recording that is turning out to be one of the surprise favorites of the holiday season, entitled “Christmas at Last.”
Brown and her longtime and highly skilled engineer, Clark Germain, worked with United Recording on Sunset Boulevard, agreeing to the stringent rules governing recording sessions during Covid-19. Every musician was masked, and no more than three people were listening back in the control room at any given time. Massive air filters blasted through the record rooms between every take and players were seated at least six feet apart, if not in separate isolation booths. Brown herself was confined to a vocal booth for at least 15 minutes after each take while air filtration blew through a small glass enclosure to protect others from her vocals.
The result is the impressive “Christmas at Last” an unusual big-budget album, featuring a full orchestra, a total of 60 musicians, arrangements by Brad Smith and Boston Pops favorite Bill Elliott, a children’s choir, and a fabulous selection of Christmas favorites. Los Angeles unions all but shut down recording of strings during the pandemic, so the entire production moved to Utah where Warner Music has long hired fabulous orchestral sections from the Utah Symphony. The arrangements on the album will move the listener and are of the highest production quality, producing a classic and original Christmas Album. “Christmas at Last” was no small achievement during Covid-19 and during one of the most trying times in 2020 and 2021.
“It was remarkable to watch such great music emerge from such difficult and uncomfortable recording circumstances, but it was all worth it,” says composer and artist Brown. “Christmas At Last” is a very unique recording because the musicians involved had been out of work and were looking for any opportunity to play. Brown and the artists wanted to provide quality Christmas music when so many Christmas performances would be limited if not canceled completely. For more information, check out the “Making of “Christmas at Last” video on YouTube.
“Christmas at Last” is streaming on all platforms and available on vinyl this Christmas Season. The legendary Dorian Holley joins Brown on a playful and jazzy duet of the holiday classic, “Winter Wonderland”, while Brown presents some strong and rarely heard low-alto performances on “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve”, “Count Your Blessings/White Christmas”, and her own classic title song, “Christmas At Last”. The evocative lower register of Brown’s voice has a richness that can only be reminiscent of Karen Carpenter, Carly Simon, Amy Grant, and others in that range, a perfect fit for Christmas favorites.
This album was recorded traditionally with the best equipment and resources available. “Christmas at Last” is top-drawer, a Hollywood-produced and mastered, big-budget album that will become a permanent favorite in any Christmas collection.
“Christmas at Last” is available on Apple Music and Spotify. Also available are the first-class music videos on Sonja Eddings Brown’s new YouTube channel. You can also get the album on vinyl at www.sebmusic.org to enjoy the unique and compelling back story, as well as the album notes and photos.
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