As a professional trumpet player, I have been playing Christmas music for over thirty years. Most Christmas arrangements for trumpet and/or brass ensembles tend to add extras to the music to make it more interesting. Apparently, somewhere along the way, musicians decided on your behalf that hymns, and in this case Christmas carols, are too boring if we don't spice them up for you. And to be completely honest, Christmas arrangements with those extras are fun to perform. And I'm sure that when people are out shopping at the malls, the spicy stuff is probably entirely appropriate. That said, there are times when people just want to sit down and relax. In our fast paced society, we tend to get bombarded with "more interesting" in every walk of life. This can be especially true during the Christmas season. That's where Unadorned Trumpet Carols come in. When I recorded these Christmas carols, the idea was to play them as simply as possible. There are no fancy modulations, no jazzy rhythms, no modern harmonies, no trills, grace notes, or mordents, no attention grabbing dynamics, and not even an "amen" at the end. These Christmas carols are nothing but melody with an occasional harmonization. What's wonderful about this recording is that Christmas carols work beautifully this way. When you listen to the recording, your memories of Christmas past will echo in your thoughts. You will begin day dreaming, not about the music, but about all the things that you hold dear in life; family, friends, and of course, Jesus, the reason for the season. There is so much music out there fighting for your attention. With Unadorned Trumpet Carols, my goal is to help you get into the spirit of Christmas in a way that pulls your attention away from the music and back in a more wholesome direction. To that end, my wife, Pearl, and I have collaborated on the project. She has created a adult-friendly coloring book to accompany the Unadorned Trumpet Carols recording. The idea is to spend time coloring illustrations of the Christmas story while you listen to the Unadorned Trumpet Carols album. We really think you're going to love it. Just do a search on google for "Coloring the Trumpet Carols".