Sunday, 30 October 2022

Gloria Estefan - Estefan Family Christmas


8 WEEKS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!

Buy Estefan Family Christmas here (external link)
Stream Estefan Family Christmas here (Spotify)
Read my retrospective of Gloria's Christmas Through Your Eyes here

I've been seeing Christmas through Gloria's eyes since 1992 when the song Christmas Through Your Eyes appeared on the singer's first Greatest Hits album. A full album came a year after that - an opus that blended her pop styling with classic festive favourites, remaining an essential addition to your seasonal song selection ever since. Last year we were blessed with her singing A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square, a posthumous duet with Nat King Cole on his lovely album A Sentimental Christmas (see here). Ms Estefan always keeps Christmas well and this year it is a family affair as she has bought her daughter Emily Estefan and grandson Sasha Estefan-Coppola along. We're all invited to an Estefan Family Christmas and it is clearly the place to be this holiday season. Group sing-alongs, heartfelt duet and glorious solo moments are all offered up as musical gifts that not only bring to mind the memories of Christmas past but are here to soundtrack moments as they happen today and (always) tomorrow...

The album starts with a complete reinvention of Paul McCartney's Wonderful Christmastime. The intro feels like it is from snow-sparkled Christmas movie. Luxurious piano dances with a fiesta of a percussion, swathing the vocals beautifully. The actual choir singing "a choir of children sing their song" is a triumphant moment that makes you glad from head to (mistle)toe. Thankful is a touching mid-tempo ballad that feels like it could be played way beyond the season, a little pocket of festivity you can pull out when you need an aural hug. There's a tenderness to the individual voices but all delivered in a way where they draw strength from each other. Gloria gets a solo moment on Christmas Time Is Here, her lush alto caressing the well-worn words and giving them new meaning and insight. Set to an orchestral score and lilting guitar, it provides a moment of solace and reflection in what can be a crazy time of year. 

Grandson Sasha takes the lead on I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, joining forces with his parents Nayib and Lara; the horn drenched drama adds a new vibe to the song - a theatrical juxtaposition to the peppy big band instrumental. That Sasha makes it such an accusatory romp with his folks makes it even more of a delight. Please Come Home For Christmas sees mother and daughter Emily deliver a duet that feels like it is lifted from the opulent MGM movie-musicals of the 40s and 50s. The yearning in both vocals is tangible - a sharing of melancholy always tinged with a glimmer of hope, aided by the sumptuous backing choir. I Wish I Could Be Santa Claus sees Emilio Estefan Jr sing a touching lullaby to grandson Sasha, who responds with a story telling delicateness that is as charming as any Night Before Christmas tale read on Christmas Eve. My Favourite Things follows - perhaps the answer to the wishes of the previous song whilst introducing a whole new Von Trapp style family for the 2020s.

Run, Little Saint Nick sees the Beach Boys classic reinvigorated (with a twist!) and, as with all these tracks (including the texture on My Favorite Things) it isn't only the singing that brings the song to life - it is the complexity and thoughtfulness of the score and backing vocals that tip the hat to the original whilst adding thrilling new elements. Christmas Don't Be Late sees a woven fabric of harmonies that lead into family tales and additions from the pets which certainly brings a smile to your face. Encanto showed there is still a huge market for these type of songs - this is what my mum would call a "bobby dazzler". Now, it is often hard to bring something new to the Wham standard Last Christmas but the Estefans manage it, turning it into a sixties Motown style finger-clicking groove. Swooning strings swirl like falling snowflakes, a mellifluous backdrop to the family all sharing their own heartbreaks. 

Sasha goes solo on It's A Marshmallow World, demonstrating how he has inherited his grandmother's talents but developed his own style of singing. You can tell he is having a rollicking good time singing these songs whilst flourishes like a guitar solo in the middle 8 are the icing on an already very tasty cake. When I Miss You Most sees Emily take the lead on a ballad so achingly beautiful that it should be racing up the adult contemporary charts from now until New Years. Some enchanting piano & strings on this one that transport you away to smoky cabaret bars when the music stops the world outside. It is then all back together for one final sing-along - to John Lennon's Happy Xmas (War Is Over). It is a hallelujah of a song - chiming bells, sincere wishes, choral accompaniment and swelling crescendos that are as essential as cream melting into hot chocolate. Here's to more Estefan Family Christmases for many years to come. 

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