Guide to the Holidays 11/30/22 edition is published by Anton Media Group.

‘Tis The Season For Mannheim Steamroller

BY DAVE GIL DE RUBIO dgilderubio@antonmediagroup.com

If you were to be asked what artist is the bestselling Christmas artist, answers would invariably range from Elvis Presley and Bing Crosby to Mariah Carey, Josh Groban and Kenny G. But that honor actually goes to Mannheim Steamroller, whose dozen Christmas albums (and counting) have racked up 31.5 million sales worldwide to date. And while Mannheim sounds like the name of a German heavy equipment apparatus, it is actually the nom de plume of Chip Davis, an Omaha-based composer/producer who has been churning out neoclassical new age holiday and secular music under this stage name since 1974. Born Louis F. Davis, Jr., the Ohio native is a musical iconoclast and former child prodigy who went from writing his first piece of music at age six and eventually working at an ad agency writing jingles before founding this musical persona after numerous labels shot down his neo-classical music pitch.

“Christmas music always had a special place in my heart for all the seasonal things that happened, which included my grandmother’s fabulous cooking and all of that. I decided to find out where some of the roots of Christmas music came from. Which is why on the first Christmas, there’s a song called ‘The Christmas Sweet,’ which is a suite of four pieces. I took songs like ‘I Saw Three Ships’ and went back to the origins and played it on instruments that would have been used at that time. Being a wind player, I could pretty much play all of those.”

“

Mannheim Steamroller was just my notion of trying to create a sound that was different, but also at the same time had classical roots to it,” Davis explained. “I see it as an eclectic mix of classical forms alongside modern-day rock and roll instruments and some older instruments from the 18th century like the harpsichord. [Those major label execs] said that there wasn’t a place on the shelf for something that was eclectic like that, but at the same time they wanted to know if I could send them a box of my debut album because they wanted to pass it around in their office.”

While it may have been a daunting proposition to go forward on his own, Davis was already experiencing concurrent success via CW McCall, a country music persona created by ad agency client and late friend Bill Fries. With the latter providing the voice, concept and lyrics for McCall, Davis wrote the music. In addition to scoring a number of chart-topping country hits, the duo recorded the global number one hit “Convoy” (and earned Davis the 1976 SESAC Country Music Writer of the Year.) With the metaphorical wind blowing at his back, Davis founded the independent label

American Gramaphone and took the name of his new project from a play on the 18th-century musical technique known as the “Mannheim crescendo.” The first in the Fresh Aire series of records was released in 1975 at a time when the New Age genre was coming into being. Davis’ belief in Mannheim Steamroller found him taking out a loan to finance the first tour.

“On that initial tour, the money was used to cover the costs of playing those first three cities—Omaha, Denver and Salt Lake City,” he recalled. “That was in 1975. Mannheim Steamroller was a five-piece with two keyboards, a bass player that also doubled on lute and other fretted instruments. I was playing percussion and recorder and we had another percussionist. Then when we got to a city, we’d hire a small orchestra to play the orchestral parts that were on the record. Ironically, the band behind CW McCall are the same players that are the Mannheim Steamroller players.”

All this bootstrapping eventually led to Davis indulging his childhood adoration of the holiday season nearly a decade later via 1984’s Christmas.

“I grew up in a pretty small town in Ohio of about 500 people when my grandmother was a piano teacher and my dad was a piano teacher at the school there,” he said.

That fascination with Christmas music led to this genre becoming a cottage industry for Mannheim Steamroller that led to another 11 Noel releases. Further opportunities sprang up and included performing at the White House for the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony three times under three different Administrations in addition to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Davis has also produced Mannheim Steamroller holiday ice-skating shows involving other well-known artists like the late Olivia Newton John, Martina McBride, Kristi Yamaguchi and Brian Boitano. Currently, there are two traveling troupes performing across the country every holiday season with a third ensemble playing at Universal Orlando Resort during the holidays. Hip surgery a decade ago means Davis has hung up his touring shoes (“It’s very tiring. When we first started with the Fresh Aire tours, the band was the crew. We put the stage up and did everything. It was exhausting) and hanging out on his 150-acre farm just north of Omaha. But rather than live the life of a country gentleman, the 75-year-old musician is still intimately involved with the stage shows he promises will tap into the Christmas spirit fans have come to expect.

“These tours are a combination of the live music and sound effects like in some

cases where there is a thunderstorm happening with one of the pieces,” he said. “There is also a multi-media show that includes slides and film. And then of course, the musicians and the live orchestra.”

Davis’ restless creative spirit has continued to yield musical fruit in the past two decades ranging from albums focusing on Disney music (1999’s Mannheim Steamroller Meets the Mouse) and American heritage (2003’s American Spirit) to amassing a notable catalog of natural sounds, from the Tucson desert to the full sonic span of all four seasons in the Midwest highlighted in his Ambience series. His latest creation is Exotic Spaces, a series that find him casting his musical net rather widely.

“What I did was I tried to musically describe places like the Taj Mahal, so that gave me an opportunity to write using sitars and other really cool instruments like tabla and those sort of things,” he said. “Then one of my favorite cuts on it has me using hydrophones [Ed. Note: microphones designed to be used underwater for recording or listening to underwater sounds.] I’ve been a scuba diver since I was in my twenties and with the hydrophones, I actually recorded the song of the whales. I have one of the songs—I say it’s in the Key of Sea. I use the whale song as the melody and it really is in the key of C. I wrote background stuff around the whale song and I had a really fun time doing that because it lined up so perfectly with what I was composing.”

It’s just the latest leg in Davis’ lifelong journey of following his own musical star, a piece of advice he received from a Nashville lawyer many moons ago.

“What I tell any budding young composer or musician is to follow your own star,” Davis said. “Don’t let anybody detract from what you’re doing because it’s you that’s doing it. It’s the only way I know how to do it.”

Mannheim Steamroller mastermind Chip Davis (Photo courtesy of the Music of Mannheim Steamroller)

Page-Turning Gifts

BY LOU GHIRALDI specialsections@antonmediagroup.com

Nothing says the holiday season is upon us more than a slew of new releases in the world of books. And this year is no different, so snuggle up with a cup of hot cocoa by the fireplace and get ready for the best holiday book and gift guide for 2022.

First off is the poignant and personal tome from music icon Linda Ronstadt. Feels Like Home: A Musical Memoir is just that, a trip to Ronstadt’s home from yesteryear. She proudly covers her history and heritage, through anecdotes, fact-based stories and recipes. Even though medical issues have robbed her of her singing voice, Ronstadt comes through loud and clear in this book. A true labor of love and a must-read.

During his career, Paul Newman was known not only as a fine actor, but somewhat of a private man. That’s what makes the story of the autobiography Paul Newman—The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir so remarkable. Back in 1986, the Oscar-winning actor and associate Stewart Stern took on an ambitious task of compiling notes, interviews and recollections from Newman’s family and friends, in the hope of putting together a record of sorts on the man himself. The only stipulation was total honesty, Newman insisted on it from everyone involved. After five years of work, the end result was a brutally honest, moving and down-toearth memoir. Even in passing, Newman was able to tell his own story, his way.

Jerry Seinfeld is back with a retrospective coffee table book-size look at his Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee Netflix series. The book is broken down by topics and has some terrific behind-the-scenes photos and conversations from the numerous celebrities who appeared on the program. Comedy legend Steven Martin also has a page-turner called Number One is Walking: My Life in Movies and Other Diversions. Leave it to Martin to share his experiences in film and his career in a comic book-like setting. He does and it works in an entertaining capsule of stories that is a breezy read.

In a similar vein, Bono is out with Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story. Rather than just put out a traditional autobiography, the U2 frontman takes the unique approach of detailing 40 songs and the stories behind them, his thought process and how each reflects another part of himself. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions, insight, heartbreak and joy in a way that only Bono can deliver.

The behind the scenes workings of Big Time Network Television get the once over with three books, from three giants in the business. Each has made historical contributions to the lifeblood of television and continue to do so today. Dick Ebersol’s From Saturday Night to Sunday Night: My Forty Years of Laughter, Fear and Touchdowns in TV takes the reader on his journey from the development of Saturday Night Live in the mid-’70s and his time producing the see BOOKS on page 6B

Olympics to bringing the NFL to Sunday night. Legendary director James Burrows has Directed by James Burrows: Five Decades of Stories from the Legendary Director of Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace, and More, which finally puts his cluttered syntax in order. This man’s résumé is so extensive it will take several books to document it all. Think of any popular, groundbreaking, high-quality television show from the last 50 years and chances are James Burrows was a part of it. Enjoyable and

enlightening stories from the making of-, to the success of and end of many shows in his repertoire. As HBO celebrates its 50th anniversary, It’s Not TV: The Spectacular Rise, Revolution and Future of HBO looks back at the revolutionary pay cable network. Sharing stories from the development of many popular shows to the business of cable television especially in those early days, HBO has set the standard and it’s all detailed here.

Bo Jackson is regarded as one the best athletes of this or any

other generation, Jeff Pearlman takes a deep dive with The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson. In it, Pearlman recounts the meteoric rise of Jackson, the behind-the-scenes stories of his playing days and sheds a spotlight on what Jackson has meant to sports and society as whole. As people from around the globe are caught up in World Cup fever, now may be a good time to check out Messi vs. Ronaldo: One Rivalry, Two GOATS and the Era That Remade the World’s Game. No two bigger

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Hygge:

Hard To Define, But So Much More Than Hype

BY AMANDA OLSEN aolsen@antonmediagroup.com

Do you remember hygge? To many, it’s a hard to pronounce Scandinavian cultural concept that was commodified and slapped on everything fuzzy or foresty a few years ago. Like most marketing gimmicks, that hygge was boiled down to its elements and then repackaged to sell things; in this case it was candles, blankets and books about “how to hygge.“ Turning it into a buzzword takes out all the nuance and depth and replaces it with materialism.

In reality, hygge isn’t about things at all. It’s what you feel when you’re curled up on the couch with a book, someone special cuddled up next to you and a blanket draped across your legs. It’s huddling in front of the woodstove, your seat just far enough away from the heat to make it comfortable, the murmur of voices all around you. It’s a cup of your favorite

drink in your hands, watching snow fall past your window. It’s yarn passing through your fingers as you knit or crochet something warm for a dear friend.

Hygge is being in the moment, being present. As such, it can really happen at any time of year. Hygge is at the beach when your child brings you the perfect piece of sea glass, or in the forest, when the

sunlight filters through the trees to light up your loved one’s hair. The soft brush of your pet’s fur on your cheek can also be hygge. Or falling asleep in a hammock. Or running outside in the rain. If you’re with someone you love, it’s hygge.

Part of the reason why people associate hygge with winter is because the weather (at least in much of the Northern Hemisphere) forces you to slow down. It’s cold, the days are short, and for a long time there is too much snow to get around easily. If you don’t find a way to enjoy the small things, you’ll go a little twitchy by spring. Winter is the time for slowness, for conserving energy, for being at rest.

At its core, hygge is intimate. After all, you don’t have that cozy, warm feeling about spending time with just anyone. These are moments of connection, between you, the people you love and your surroundings. It is a gathering, a joining together. People talk about being grounded, and that’s hygge too, but you must also be interconnected. It’s hard to have hygge alone.

It’s likely you’ve already experienced hygge. That deep, resonant peace you feel being with the people who mean the most to you is hygge. There’s no formula, no path, no stepby-step to follow. It can’t be found in a book. The best way to experience hygge is your way, whether that’s candles and blankets, wool sweaters and boots, or a cabin with a woodburning stove. If you are surrounded by the people you love, you’ve got the right idea.

God Hyggelig, God Jul og godt nytt år!

A perfect recipe for hygge.

A julenisse, or Christmas elf (Photo by Amanda Olsen)

Krumkakker and greenery set a festive mood. (Photo by Amanda Olsen)

Norwegian Christmas Cookies

BY AMANDA OLSEN aolsen@antonmediagroup.com

Cookie traditions everywhere are practically sacred, and Norwegian Christmas sweets are no exception. Families pick seven varieties of cookies to bake and then exchange them with neighbors and friends. They vary from simple to...intense. Some require special equipment, a whole afternoon and an extra set of hands, but for many all you need is some time and love to get started. Invite a loved one to join in and you may find yourself some hygge as you bake!

Brunpinner (Brown Sticks)

3/4 cup butter (softened)

1 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

1 tsp inverted syrup (you can substitute light corn syrup, but inverted syrup is available online and in some specialty grocery stores)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 egg, beaten (a room temperature egg is best)

Pearl sugar or chopped almonds

Cream butter and sugar together well. add vanilla, inverted syrup, and egg yolk. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add to mix in three batches. Once combined, remove from mixer to a floured surface and knead lightly, then chill for 15 minutes to overnight. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350F. Line several cookie sheets with parchment

paper and set aside. Remove the dough from the fridge and divide into three balls. Place on a lightly floured surface, flatten each in a long strip; put the strips on the parchment paper. Brush whole surface with the beaten egg and sprinkle with almonds and pearl sugar, if desired. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until (more) brown. Cut on the diagonal while hot. Try not to eat them all in one go.

Sandbakkel (sand pastry)

These cookies do require a set of special tins to make. They are available online.

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten (best at room temperature)

1/4 tsp almond extract OR 1 tsp. cardamom (optional; pick one or the other, or neither if that is your preference. Or both, why not?)

3 cups flour

1 pinch salt

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease tins thoroughly with shortening. Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and almond extract, if you are using it. Combine dry ingredients seperately. Add to wet ingredients in three batches, once each has been thoroughly incorporated. Take approximately 1 tablespoon of dough, roll it into a ball, and press that ball from the center of the tin outwards towards the edges.They should be thin along the edge with a depression in the middle. Arrange on a cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown. Cool on a rack in the tins. Once cool, tap gently on the bottom to release. Try not to eat them all, please.

Sandbakkel tins. (Photo by Amanda Olsen)

Sandbakkel cookies. (Photo by Amanda Olsen)

Brunpinner cookies. (Photo by Amanda Olsen)

Holiday Gifts For Your Ears And Eyes

BY DAVE GIL DE RUBIO dgilderubio@antonmediagroup.com

Miles Davis - That’s What Happened 1982-1985: The Bootleg Series Volume 7 (Columbia/Legacy)

The 3-CD set includes two discs of previously unreleased studio material—from the Star People, Decoy and You’re Under Arrest sessions and a third disc showcasing Miles Davis Live in Montreal on July 7, 1983; the collection comes in a slipcase with individual album mini-jackets and a booklet featuring liner notes by Marcus J. Moore and revelatory new interviews with Miles’ ‘80s players including Vince Wilburn, Jr. (drummer and bandmate), John Scofield (electric guitarist), Darryl Jones (bassist), Marcus Miller (bassist) and Mike Stern (guitarist). (3-CD/2-LP)

Blondie—Against The Odds 1974-1982 (Capitol)

The first-ever authorized and indepth archive in Blondie’s history, features all six studio albums—Blondie (1976), Plastic Letters (1977), Parallel Lines (1978), Eat to the Beat (1979), Autoamerican (1980) and The Hunter (1982). Also included are a best of the outtakes and rarities from the Super Deluxe Collectors’ Edition, remastered from the original analog tapes. All the hits are here, of course, but the real story lies in the unreleased material, ranging from early demos to a cover of the Doors’ “Moonlight Drive.” (8-CD)

Billy Joel- Live At Yankee Stadium (Columbia/Legacy)

Shot live on 16mm color film on

June 22 and 23, 1990, at the iconic Bronx stadium, the original concert has been re-edited. The new version includes a never-before-released performance of “Uptown Girl,” interviews with Billy Joel, and behind-the-scenes footage from the event’s production. (Digital, 2-CD+ Blu-ray /3-LP)

The Beatles - Revolver Special Edition (Capitol)

Features a new mix by Giles Martin and Sam Okell, plus the original mono mix, a 4-track EP, 28 session takes and home demos, a 100-page book with a foreword by Paul McCartney, an essay by Questlove, detailed track notes, photos and ephemera including handwritten lyrics, tape boxes and extracts from Klaus Voormann’s graphic novel on the making of the cover art. (5-CD)

Eric Clapton – Nothing But The Blues (Super Deluxe Edition) (Rhino/Warner Records)

This soundtrack to the documentary of the same name features more than an hour of previously unreleased live performances recorded in 1994 during the legendary guitarist’s tour supporting his Grammywinning, multi-platinum blues album From the Cradle. The Super Deluxe Edition comes with the documentary on Blu-ray, the soundtrack on both 2-LP vinyl and CD, a bonus CD with four extra tracks “Driftin’,” County Jail Blues,” “Kid Man Blues,” and “It’s Too Bad,” and an exclusive hardcover book with memorabilia, including a numbered lithograph,12x24 poster, Clapton guitar string set, custom guitar picks and an exclusive bandanna. (2-LP/CD/Blu-Ray)

Aerosmith - 1971: The Road Starts Hear (UMe)

This historic early recording of Aerosmith in their rehearsal room features never-before-heard performance showcasing the quintet’s nascent raw talent the year before they were signed to Columbia Records and two years before their eponymous debut. Completists will salivate over embryonic versions of “Dream On” and “Mama Kin.” (CD/LP).

Dio – Holy Diver (Super Deluxe Edition) (Rhino/Warner Records)

The collection comes with two versions of Holy Diver. The first is a new mix of the album made by Joe Barresi (Tool, Queens of the Stone Age, Slipknot). He used the original analog tapes to remix all nine tracks on the album. The second is a newly remastered version of the original 1983 mix. The Super Deluxe Edition also features unreleased live performances and outtakes, along with a selection of rarities from the era. (4-CD)

Tedeschi Trucks Band - I Am The Moon I-IV (Fantasy)

Compromised of four separate albums, this box set features 24 original tracks inspired by the classic Arab poem “Layla and Majnun.” There are also four accompanying short films and detailed essays by music journalist David Fricke at the band’s website. (4-LP/4-CD)

Madonna – Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones (Rhino/Warner Records)

New career-spanning chronological compilation celebrates Madonna’s record 50 #1 club hits across four decades and includes her favorite remixes, rare and unreleased versions, Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones flows in mostly chronological order, from 1983’s “Holiday” to 2019’s “I Don’t Search I Find,” with remixes by some of the biggest and most influential DJs of all time including Shep Pettibone, William Orbit, Honey Dijon, and Avicii). (3-CD).

Joni Mitchell – The Asylum Albums (1972 – 1975) (Elektra Catalog Group)

Spotlight goes to Mitchell’s moving away from her folk roots to a sound more influenced by jazz fusion on a string of albums starting with For the Roses (1972) right through Court and Spark (1974) The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975) and Miles of Aisles (1974) (5-LP/4-CD)

David Bowie – Divine Symmetry (Parlophone)

This set focuses on the development of the 1971 album Hunky Dory. Included are demos, new alternative mixes by original co-producer Ken Scott, the early mixes, a legendary live show from September 1971, a BBC Session and BBC In Concert from 1971 all on CD. The Blu-Ray features the definitive 2015 remaster of the original Hunky Dory album and an alternative journey through the album using the alternative mixes. The book set will be a hardcover book housed in a hard slip case. (4-CD/Blu-ray)

Tina Turner – Break Every Rule (Deluxe Edition) (Parlophone)

The follow-up to Turner’s 1984 comeback album Private Dancer, Break Every Rule includes the hits “Typical Male” and “What You Get Is What You See” along with guest appearances by Bryan Adams, Mark Knopfler, Phil Collins and more. (3-CD/2-DVD)

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Live

At The Fillmore, 1997 (Warner Records)

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers famously played 20 nights at the storied Fillmore venue in San Francisco in 1997. Six of the shows were professionally recorded and this release features many of the high points of the residency. The small venue allowed the band to vary their sets each night; they included re-arranged and distinctive versions of their hits, deep cuts, and many cover versions. (6-LP/4-CD)

George Michael Older (Aegean/Epic/ Legacy)

Older was Michael’s third album as a solo artist and would see him experimenting with new musical styles and expanding his artistic horizons. Limited Deluxe Edition Box Set (5-CD/3-LP) and available digitally.

The Rolling Stones - At The El Mocambo (Interscope)

Portions of Live At The El Mocambo leaked out over the years, either on bootlegs or on Love You Live, but the full 1977 performance captures the Rolling Stones at the pivotal moment when Ronnie Wood joined as their second guitarist. Also included is an extended set of classic blues covers. (2-CD)

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