There was a time, perhaps not too long ago, when the holiday season didn't seem quite so loud... Back then, or so we imagine, the holidays were as soothing and calm as a winter landscape after a snowfall... On this recording, harpist Ayako Shinozaki (with occasional help from Kazuko Shinozaki, also on harp) takes us back to the holiday season we wish we could remember, a time of almost contemplative intimacy. The songs and carols presented here, all arranged by Hiroshi Aoshima, run the gamut from the ancient to the modern... elegantly arranged and elegantly performed on the instrument of the angels. -- Jackson Braider
