This double live CD package, subtitled "Music for the Christmas Season," is exactly that. In 1996,
Jane Siberry gave a series of Wednesday night concerts at New York City's Bottom Line. This Christmas season show is the first release of that series.
Siberry was joined onstage by 12 other musicians, including
Tim Ray,
David Travers-Smith (who worked on
Jane's 1995 release
Maria), and future
David Bowie bassist
Gail Ann Dorsey. Like
Maria, the music is
Siberry's unique blend of folk and jazz, with a tiny bit of pop. But as a whole, it just doesn't work -- most of the songs are void of melody and do not elicit any type of Christmas sentiment, and the package is far too long. Highlights of the CD tend to be the songs
Jane herself wrote, rather than the Christmas standards. Of particular interest are the utterly fascinating version of "An Angel Stepped Down" and the funny and moving "Hockey." Also worth noting is
Jane's self-penned Chanukah song, "Are You Burning, Little Candle?"