Kentucky Christmas: Old and New

AMG Review of Kentucky Christmas: Old and New

Steve Leggett
All Music Guide

Albums of Christmas carols are hardly anything new, but the unique Appalachian perspective that Jean Ritchie and her family bring to Kentucky Christmas: Old and New makes it a very special album. The "old and new" of the title has a double meaning, referring to both the instrumentation of the album, which combines raditional mountain instruments with contemporary ones (including tastefully applied synthesizers), and to the celebration of Old Christmas, which is January 6 (the date when Ritchie's grandmother celebrated the holiday), and the more modern New Christmas, which falls on December 25. The album itself is lovely and intimate, even gorgeous and haunting in spots, and it contains none of the glitz and glamour (which means no Santa, no neon-challenged reindeer or talking snowmen) that has come to be part and parcel of the typical holiday album. An air of reverent mystery hangs over this sequence, and it moves in hushed tones, beautifully arranged and executed, and tracks like Ritchie's own "Wintergrace" are as much elegant art song as carol. The droning, modal and spookily gorgeous "The World Is Old" is another highlight, as is the simple and sturdy carol that opens the album, "Brightest and Best." All told, Kentucky Christmas: Old and New is as good as these seasonal releases get, and its timeless, ancient feel only increases the reverent wonder and mystery that surrounds the birth it celebrates.