For the latest songs, albums, videos, playlists, and artist news, bite into our music blog Crossfade.
Kenny Ellis
- Avg user rating:
Out of 14 votes - Similar Artists: Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams
Out of 14 votes
- Genre: Easy Listening & Vocals » Vocal Pop
Editor's review
Giving Jewish holiday songs a swing workup is the least of Ellis's endearing irreverence--check out "'Twas the Night Before Hanukkah," which twists the Xmas ditty into a catalog of dreidels and kosher pickles. It's rousing fun, but the deft piano licks show that it's serious jazz, too.
Biography
Come this December, the holiday season gets swingin' with Hanukkah Swings! Kenny Ellis--a multi-faceted musical performer and cantor--makes Hanukkah hip for pop, jazz and big band lovers with his Favored Nations' Cool debut Hanukkah Swings! A joyous labor of love reflecting Ellis' lifelong affinities for Jewish culture and swing era legends Count Basie, Les Brown and Benny Goodman, Hanukkah Swings! features Ellis on lead vocals performing lively, jazzy twists on festive classics (some done in medley form) in English and Hebrew. One song has a dash of Yiddish tossed in on the humorous parody "Twas The Night Before Hanukkah," whose lyrics are complemented by a dashing jazz/blues piano solo by co-producer Stu Goldberg. The collection, which includes two original pieces, the lush orchestral ballad "Hanukkah Candles" and the fun-filled tropical flavored "Hanu-calypso," features brilliant ensemble arrangements by Emmy Award winning composer/arranger Harvey R. Cohen, arranger and co-producer of Hanukkah Swings!
