Description
Christmas Stories: Repeat the Sounding Joy is a Christmas album by the American singer and songwriter Jason Gray, released on Centricity Music in October 2012, distributed in the US by EMI Christian Music Group. The album was produced by Cason Cooley.
I can count on one hand the number of Christian market Christmas albums I can listen to for more than 2 minutes. Count the new Jason Gray opus about Christ’s incarnation as the absolute best of that exclusive group. One of the many things that makes this album special is the fact that Gray doesn’t arbitrarily decide that seasonal music HAS to sound a certain way. It has more to do with the story being told and… ‘Christmas Stories’ is a storyteller’s record.
With a few sacred Christmas classics sprinkled in for authenticity, Gray populates the album with the thoughts and fears of the characters we have all come to associate with the Christmas story. Songs from the perspective of the innkeeper – the folk-pop shuffle of «Rest» – Mary – the 50’s homage «Ave Maria», which features a seamless interweaving of the famous Schubert melody – Joseph – «Forgiveness is a Miracle», an ethereal, world music influenced pop song that depicts the almost certain struggle Joseph must have had reconciling the news of Mary’s pregnancy – and, of course, God himself in the stunning Gray/Andy Gullahorn composition, «I Will Find a Way», perhaps the greatest song ever written about the Incarnation and how God begins the process of redemption.
With varied musical backgrounds, extremely empathetic production by Cason Cooley, and a masterful way of allowing the listener to identify with the human tendency toward selfishness, fear, and doubt that was present in the principals of the greatest story ever told, Gray unlocks the joy that should be present in the season… a joy that, despite the struggles in the story’s principals, was still evident in their actions and responses. ‘Christmas Stories: Repeat the Sounding Joy’ is a very rare bird indeed – A Christmas album that actually has Christ as the central element of the story – and is totally worth listening to ANY time of the year. That is something to celebrate. [Shawn McLaughlin, Christian Musician, November/December 2013]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/christmas-stories-repeat-the-sounding-joy-with-commentary/1560902706)
CD tracklist:
01. Oh Come All Ye Faithful – 1:15
02. Christmas Is Coming – 3:44
03. O Little Town of Bethlehem – 1:02
04. Rest (The Song of the Innkeeper) – 3:41
05. Ave Maria (The Song for Mary) – 4:20
06. Forgiveness Is a Miracle (A Song for Joseph) / Man of Mercy – 5:32
07. Gloria! (The Song of the Shepherds) – 3:51
08. O Holy Night – 3:55
09. Easier (The Song of the Wiseman) – 3:42
10. I Will Find a Way (The Song of Emmanuel) – 4:55
11. Christmas for Jesus – 1:18
12. Children Again – 3:53
13. Joy to the World – 3:24
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