American Yuletide

The Wolf-Wind Songbook

American Yuletide is a reimagining of the traditional holiday songbook. While the original lyrics remain intact, the melodies and harmonies have been rebuilt from the ground up, drawing on America’s distinct musical genres. Within this collection, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and “Joy to the World” transform into African-American spirituals. The poignant, ancient poetry of “Coventry Carol” meets the raw grit of Delta blues, while “The Night Before Christmas” is reimagined as a sea shanty. “I Saw Three Ships” is stripped back into a folk song, and “The Twelve Days of Christmas” bounces to a lively Ragtime rhythm–that is, until the singers go off-script. Guided by the original harmonies, “In the Bleak Midwinter” shifts into modal jazz, and “Auld Lang Syne” is delivered as an outlaw-country take. The finale, “The Wolf-Wind,” is an original composition about resilience and community, arranged in the Black gospel choral tradition.

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