Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Dona Nobis Pacem - Ma, Yo-Yo
2. You Couldn't Be Cuter - Ma, Yo-Yo & Diana Krall
3. Joy To The World - Ma, Yo-Yo & Dave & Matt Brubeck/Paquito D'Rivera
4. Here Comes The Sun - Ma, Yo-Yo & James Taylor
5. Dona Nobis Pacem - Ma, Yo-Yo & Edgar Meyer/Chris Thile
6. Wassail Song/All Through The Night - Ma, Yo-Yo & Edgar Meyer/Chris Thile
7. Christmas Jig/Mouth Of The Tobique Reel - Ma, Yo-Yo & Natalie MacMaster
8. Wexford Carol - Ma, Yo-Yo & Alison Krauss
9. Panxolina (A Galician Carol) - Ma, Yo-Yo & Cristina Pato
10. Dona Nobis Pacem - Ma, Yo-Yo & Sergio & Odair Assad
11. Vassourinhas - Ma, Yo-Yo & Sergio & Odair Assad
12. Dona Nobis Pacem - Ma, Yo-Yo & Paquito D'Rivera/Alon Yavnai
13. Invitacion Al Danzon - Ma, Yo-Yo & Paquito D'Rivera/Alon Yavnai
14. My One And Only Love - Ma, Yo-Yo & Joshua Redman
15. Familia - Ma, Yo-Yo & Assad Family
16. Concordia - Ma, Yo-Yo & Dave & Matt Brubeck
17. My Favorite Things - Ma, Yo-Yo & Chris Botti
18. Touch The Hand Of Love - Ma, Yo-Yo & Renee Fleming/Edgar Meyer/Chris Thile
19. Kuai Le - Ma, Yo-Yo & Wu Tong/Silk Road Ensemble
20. This Little Light Of Mine - Ma, Yo-Yo & Amelia Zirin-Brown
21. Happy Xmas (War Is Over) - Ma, Yo-Yo & Jake Shimabukuro
22. Dona Nobis Pacem/Auld Lang Syne - Ma, Yo-Yo & Chris Botti

Disc 2:

1. Behind The Scenes - Ma, Yo-Yo
2. Here Comes The Sun - Ma, Yo-Yo & James Taylor
3. You Couldn't Be Cuter - Ma, Yo-Yo & Diana Krall
4. Wexford Carol - Ma, Yo-Yo & Alison Krauss
5. My Favorite Things - Ma, Yo-Yo & Chris Botti
6. Touch The Hand Of Love - Ma, Yo-Yo & Renee Fleming

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7124 in Music
• Released on: 2008-10-13
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: CD+DVD

Album Description
Yo-Yo Ma has joined together with a remarkable group of friends to create 'Songs Of Joy And Peace'. Intended as a universal celebration of the holiday spirit, the album includes duets with James Taylor, Alison Krauss, Diana Krall, Renée Fleming, Dave Brubeck, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile, amongst others.

From the Artist
"It started with the idea of a party, a party built around the concept of joy and the infinite varieties of joy to be found in the world. But joy can't exist in our world without the comfort of peace. As we all draw closer and closer together in this world, nothing is more important. So as much as the music in this album is about joy, it is also about peace, about the two operating in tandem. I am really excited to know that I have all these fabulous colleagues who think the same way." - Yo-Yo Ma on SONGS OF JOY & PEACE

About the Artist
Yo-Yo Ma is an exclusive Sony Classical artist, and his discography of over 75 albums (including more than 15 Grammy Award winners) reflects his wide-ranging interests. He has made several successful recordings that defy categorisation, among them Hush with Bobby McFerrin, Appalachia Waltz and Appalachian Journey with Mark O'Connor and Edgar Meyer and two Grammy-winning tributes to the music of Brazil, Obrigado Brazil and Obrigado Brazil - Live in Concert. Yo-Yo Ma's most recent recordings include Paris: La Belle Époque, with pianist Kathryn Stott, Appassionato, which contains some of the world's most romantic music and New Impossibilities, a live album recorded with the Silk Road Ensemble and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; he also appears on John Williams' soundtrack for Rob Marshall's film Memoirs of a Geisha.

Yo-Yo Ma is strongly committed to educational programs that not only bring young audiences into contact with music but also allow them to participate in its creation. While touring, he takes time whenever possible to conduct master classes as well as more informal programs for students - musicians and non-musicians alike. At the same time he continues to develop new concert programs for family audiences (helping, for instance, to inaugurate the family series at Carnegie Hall). In each of these undertakings, he works to connect music to students' daily surroundings and activities with the goal of making music and creativity a vital part of children's lives from an early age. He has also reached young audiences through appearances in shows such as Sesame Street.

Yo-Yo Ma was born in 1955 to Chinese parents living in Paris. He began to study the cello with his father at age four and soon came with his family to New York, where he spent most of his formative years. Later, his principal teacher was Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School. He sought out a traditional liberal arts education to expand upon his conservatory training, graduating from Harvard University in 1976. He has received numerous awards, including the Avery Fisher Prize (1978), the Glenn Gould Prize (1999), the National Medal of the Arts (2001), the Dan David Prize (2006), the Sonning Prize (2006), and the World Economic Forum's Crystal Award (2008). Appointed a CultureConnect Ambassador by the United States Department of State in 2002, Yo-Yo Ma has met with, trained and mentored thousands of students worldwide including Lithuania, Korea, Lebanon, Azerbaijan and China. He has performed with and conducted master classes for members of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra. In 2006, Secretary General Kofi Annan named him a U.N. Messenger of Peace and in 2007 Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon extended his appointment.

Customer Reviews

wonderful, eclectic, mostly joyful, mostly jazz, not just for xmas
This CD is a wonderful, eclectic collection of mostly joyful, mostly jazz tunes. Yo-Yo has brought together some of today's most accomplished musicians in jazz (eg Brubeck, Krall, Botti,Redman), traditional/Celtic (eg Taylor, Meyer,MacMaster,Krauss, Pato), and Latin jazz (eg Assad, D'Rivera)and given us many well-known traditional songs with surprisingly different twist. The arrangements are all well polished and his cello accompaniment adds a warmth and richness to each song.

Pleasant background music
Bought on a 4 star rating review I found this to be spectacularly bland and uninspiring. Shame really as the line up looked promissing. Will stay on the shelf until next Xmas when I'll dust it off and give it another chance.