1. Medley: Hark! THe Herald angels sing; O COMe, all ye FaiTHFul; JOy TO THe WOrld 2:522. BaBy iT’s COld OuTside 4:08 3 3. THe Man WiTH THe Bag 2:264. gOd resT ye Merry genTleMen 2:44 3 5. linus and luCy 4:38

6. gO Tell iT On THe MOunTain 2:17 3 7. Mary did yOu knOW? 3:418. leT iT snOW, leT iT snOW, leT iT snOW 2:249. WHaT are yOu dOing neW year’s eve? 4:27

10. CarOl OF THe Bells 2:01 3 11. O COMe, O COMe eMManuel 4:50

Medley:Hark! THe Herald angels sing Charles Wesley, Felix Mendelssohn Public DomainO COMe, all ye FaiTHFul C. Frederick Oakeley, John F. Wade Public DomainJOy TO THe WOrld George F. Handel, Isaacs Watts Public Domain Arr. Cody McVey Asheville Music Publishing/BMI

“This opus is our introduction to the wonderful season of Christmas which includes favorite Christmas hymns of the Church. I wanted a ‘beginning’ to this recording that felt joyous, upbeat and euphoric. Cody McVey’s incredible arrangement accomplished that goal. Spread the good news! Jesus is born!”

BaBy iT’s COld OuTside Frank Loesser Frank Music/ASCAP

“We’re used to hearing this song sung as a duet. Inspired by the James Taylor/Natalie Cole version, I thought an instrumental version with piano and sax would be nice. Sam Levine did a lovely job on the alto sax.”

THe Man WiTH THe Bag Irving Taylor, Dudley Brooks, Hal Stanley Morley Music/ASCAP

“My mom and dad loved all types of music, and music was an important part of the Collins family home all my life. Big band music was a favorite and there’s really nothing quite like swing. A relatively new song to me, Lee Ann Womack’s 2002 version is my inspiration for this rendition.”

prOduCed By: Jeff Collins all OrCHesTraTiOns By: Cody McVey *except* “What Are You Doing New Years Eve,” by Dave WilliamsonreCOrding engineers: Van Atkins and Scott Barnett at Crossroads Studios, Arden, NC; Bobby Shin at Watershed Studio, Nashville, TN and Sound Emporium, Nashville, TNassisTanT engineers: Zack Pancoast, Chris BarnesMixed and MasTered By: Scott Barnett at Crossroads Studios, Arden, NCCOver and inside pHOTOgrapHy: Jeff Collins pHOTOgrapHy OF JeFF: Micah SchweinsbergpHOTOgrapHy assisTanTs: Greg Bentley, Vickie Collins, Jackie SchweinsberggrapHiC design: Lynn O’Hara, Art & Design DenpianO TeCHniCian: Gary GriswoldMusiCians:Jeff Collins 3 piano, keyboardsTony Creasman 3 drums, percussionJeremy Medkiff 3 bass and electric guitars, acoustic guitarJason Webb 3 Hammond B3Tim Surrett, Roger Fortner 3 upright bassDavid Johnson 3 acoustic and electric guitarsSam Levine 3 saxophone feature on “Baby It’s Cold Outside” and “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?”David Davidson 3 violin feature on “Mary Did You Know?”Steve Patrick 3 flugelhorn and trumpet features on “Go Tell It on the Mountain”David Johnson 3 guitar feature on “Linus and Lucy”

OrCHesTra: David Davidson (concertmaster), Conni Ellisor, David Angell, Karen Winkelmann, Alicia Enstrom, Janet Darnall, Katelyn Westergard 3 ViolinsJim Grisjean, Elizabeth Lamb 3 ViolasJulie Tanner, Nick Gold, Sari Reist 3 CelliCraig E. Nelson 3 Double BassSam Levine 3 Flute, Piccolo, ClarinetSomerlie Depasquale 3 Oboe, English HornPhyliss Sparks 3 HarpSteve Patrick (concertmaster), Mike Haynes, Jeff Bailey 3 Trumpets, FlugelhornsErnie Collins, Chris McDonald, Prentiss Hobbs 3 TrombonesGilbert Long 3 TubaJennifer Kummer, Beth Beeson, Leslie Norton 3 French HornsMark Douthit, Sam Levine, Jimmy Bowland 3 SaxesSam Bacco 3 PercussionprOgraMMing: Kris Crunk, Cody McVey???????3???????

disTriBuTiOn serviCes: Scott WagnerradiO serviCes: Jim StoverFinanCial serviCes: Vickie CollinsMarkeTing direCTOr: Ty Gilpina&r assisTanT and layOuT COOrdinaTiOn: Greg Bentley???????3???????

Why I love ChristmasChristmas for me is many things. What comes to mind first are the wonderful memories I have of Christmas as a child. Mom and Dad made the holiday very special for my sister Gail and I. Christmas was about wrapping presents, getting the decorations down from the attic, preparing for the Christmas Pageant play at church, hoping for snow (loving it when it did!), lighting candles on our Advent wreath each Sunday leading up to Christmas, putting up the tree, and on and on. All these Christmas traditions and memories have the soundtrack of Christmas music surrounding them.We had many Christmas albums in the Collins house. They included all the favorites many of us from the 60’s and 70’s era remember and still love today. Crosby, Cole, Sinatra, Como, Streisand,…plus many, many more, some being instrumental recordings.So as I selected the songs for this recording, I had all these emotions, thoughts, memories and tunes swirling in my

head. Keeping in mind I wanted this project to be piano driven with no accompanying background vocals, I compiled a list of 30 or more possible songs. I picked four favorites and started with those in December, 2015. Early in 2016, I selected four more, recorded those…and cut the final tracks (totaling eleven) in early Spring of 2016. I feel like it’s an attractive variety of song tempos and styles. There’s a mix of big band, full orchestra, pop brass, and strings on ten of the eleven songs. Fellow musicians and friends David Johnson and Jeremy Medkiff on electric and acoustic guitar, Tony Creasman on drums and percussion, Tim Surrett and Roger Fortner on upright bass, Jason Webb on Hammond B3, and myself

on piano and keyboards make up the band for the basic tracks. Recording engineers Scott Barnett and Van Atkins captured the music that gave arranger Cody McVey a foundation to create his orchestra arrangements around. Once the orchestrations were complete, Scott Barnett brought all these elements together in what I feel is an excellent mix of the recording.So here it is. What is it? The Music of Christmas in an instrumental form. I hope it makes you ‘feel’ Christmassy, makes you think of decorating the tree, sledding in the snow, waking up on Christmas morning so excited to see what Santa has delivered (hopefully!). I hope it reminds you of the Reason for the Season, the birth of Jesus Christ. I hope it makes you want to be with the people you love and cherish…and to think of good, warm, happy times. And I hope you enjoy it. It’s why I love Christmas.

?Jeff Collins

gOd resT ye Merry genTleMen Unknown Public Domain Arr. Jeff Collins Asheville Music Publishing/BMI

“This Downton Abbey inspired selection is my approach to this haunting English traditional Christmas carol. It is one of the oldest extant carols, dated to the 16th century or earlier.”

linus and luCy Vincent A. Guaraldi Lee Mendelson Film Productions/BMI

“A Charlie Brown Christmas has been a part of Christmas for many of us. Pianist Vince Guaraldi created a classic jazz tune for the CBS animated special that will live on forever. Here’s my nod to this tune with just a respectful touch of new.”

gO Tell iT On THe MOunTain John W. Work Jr. Public Domain Arr. Jeff Collins Asheville Music Publishing/BMI

“The Doobie Brothers song ‘Minute By Minute’ has a very cool keyboard intro. I pay tribute to it in the intro here, my inspiration for this soul flavored African-American spiritual. Its original lyrics celebrate the Nativity of Jesus.”

Mary did yOu knOW? Mark Lowry, Lee R Greene Word Music/ASCAP Rufus Music/ASCAP

“A 1991 composition that has become a modern Christmas classic, this beautiful song’s melody stays with you. David Davidson’s heartfelt violin solo in our instrumental version here is apropos.”

leT iT snOW, leT iT snOW, leT iT snOW Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne Cahn Music Co./ASCAP Quaytor Productions/ASCAP WB Music Corp./ASCAP

“Anyone who knows me knows I love snow. I also love music with a Latin feel. So we put the two together for this arrangement of this 1945 popular hit. Any Christmas with snow on the ground was always our wish growing up. So this Christmas, let it snow!”

WHaT are yOu dOing neW year’s eve? Frank Loesser Frank Music/ASCAP

“This is simply one of my favorite songs of all time. Every chord counts. The lyric is pure poetry. Composer/singer Anita Kerr had a vocal version in the sixties that was and still is a music tradition at our home each Christmas. Thank you Anita for introducing this song to me many years ago. Cozy up to the fireplace for this one.”

CarOl OF THe Bells Mykola Leontovych Public Domain Arr. Cody McVey Asheville Music Publishing/BMI

“The original intent of this work was to be sung a cappella by mixed four-voice choir. More recently various instrumental versions come to mind. We touched on a bit of swing (can’t help it!) in a section of this rendition. A perfect carol to feature full orchestra!

O COMe, O COMe eMManuel John M. Neale, Thomas Helmore Public Domain Arr. Jeff Collins Asheville Music Publishing/BMI

“This Christian hymn celebrates the season of Advent, a time of expectant waiting for the birth of Christ. The Piano Guys 2013 version reminded me of the beautiful melody of this tune, which has its origins in 15th century France. Beautiful string section work here by fantastic musicians from the Nashville area.”

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JEFF COLLINS THE KEYS TO CHRISTMAS

pg2016 Crossroads Records, a division of Crossroads Entertainment & Marketing, Inc. Manufactured and Distributed by Crossroads Distribution, P.O. Box 829, Arden, NC 28704. (828) 684-3066. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws. Made in the U.S.A. Printed in the U.S.A.

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