Description
Hark! The Herald Angels Swing
Sampler: Come All Ye Faithful, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, Deck The Halls, Silent Night and Joy to the World
About “Hark! The Herald Angels Swing”
For many years, I have wanted to do an instrumental Christmas album featuring traditional Christmas Carols and a few of my original songs that I associate most with Christmas and the spirit of this magical season.
Christmas Carols have always held a special fascination for me, which began at the age of 4 when I used to play jazz-style Christmas Carols on my plastic recorder, which I loved so much. A year later, I progressed to the second love of my life, the clarinet (my wife Liz being my first, of course). Some of the first songs I learned to play were Christmas Carols such as “Silent Night”, “Jingle Bells”, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and “Away in a Manger”. I guess now, almost 55 years later, I have come full circle with this album.
The songs on this album are presented in the styles of the great musicians who have inspired and influenced me over the years, as well as in my own way of playing, of course.
These include Benny Goodman, my friend and clarinet and saxophone mentors Buddy DeFranco and Don Burrows, as well as Eddie Daniels, Hugo Strasser, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Ritchie Cole, Paul Desmond, Charlie Parker, Phil Woods, Grover Washington Jnr, Gerald Albright and many others too numerous to mention in this short discourse.
Thanks & Dedications
Sadly, my Father passed away in 2020, but I know that he would have loved this album, so I dedicate this album and the song “Think of Me at Christmas Time” to his memory.
To my wife Liz, and my dear friends Geoff and Bronwen Tyler, who always counter my “I probably couldn’t do that well enough” with “Oh, Andy! Of course you can!”
Thanks, “guys”, you give me the confidence to do some of my most challenging projects and performances, and I am forever grateful to you.
I give thanks daily to my dad and mum, who nurtured and encouraged my musical interests from my earliest days to the present time.
I am also eternally grateful to my dear friend, teacher, musical inspiration and mentor for over 30 years, the great Maestro Tommy Tycho, who taught me how to score my ideas for arrangements and the many compositions I have written during my lifetime.
I sincerely hope that whenever you need a Christmas spirit top-up, you have many years of enjoyment listening to this album.
Warmest Regards,
Andy Firth (November 2025)
Titles:
| 1. Come All Ye Faithful (Trad. Arr: Andy Firth) | 3:14 | |
| 2. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear (Trad. Arr: Andy Firth) | 4:46 | |
| 3. Santa Claus is Swingin’ (Andy Firth) | 3:26 | |
| 4. Think of Me at Christmas Time (Andy Firth) | 3:28 | |
| 5. Deck the Halls (Trad. Arr: Andy Firth) | 3:05 | |
| 6. Jingle Bells Swing (Andy Firth) | 2:46 | |
| 7. Silent Night (Trad. Arr: Andy Firth) | 3:50 | |
| 8. We Wish You a Merry Christmas (Trad. Arr: Andy Firth) | 3:22 | |
| 9. It’s a Wonderful Time of the Year (Andy Firth) | 3:06 | |
| 10. Christmas Time is Here (Andy Firth) | 2:54 | |
| 11. Hark! The Herald Angels Swing (Trad. Arr: Andy Firth) | 3:38 | |
| 12. Christmas Time is the Loveliest Time of the Year (Andy Firth) | 3:32 | |
| 13. Jungle Bells (Trad./Andy Firth) | 3:25 | |
| 14. Away in a Manger (Trad. Arr: Andy Firth) | 3:53 | |
| 15. Joy to the World (Trad. Arr: Andy Firth) | 3:34 | |
| 16. Auld Lang Syne (Trad. Arr: Andy Firth) | 3:42 |
All clarinet, saxophones, keyboards, sequencing, arrangements, recording, mixing, editing and post-production by Andy Firth.
Total Playing Time: 56 Minutes
All compositions composed (and or arranged), performed, & produced by Andy Firth. Newcastle, Australia. October-November 2025
©2025 Accessible Music Publishing. www.andyfirthmusic.com
