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Man! The Rev. Jimmie Bratcher's Man! It's Christmas hits the ground running with a smokin' blues rock rendition of the title track that's quite an attention grabber. The Rev. man maintains the high-pressure sales job with a just-as-smokin' cover of What Child Is This. Next, he comes through with a masterful blues arrangement of Go Tell It On The Mountain. The lamest Christmas song I can think of, the good reverend lays hands on it and it walks!

Vocalist Bratcher does not disappoint, either. A blues crooner, his bluesy vocals are intriguing enough to investigate further at first opportunity.

And as if that weren't enough, the dude wrote several of these tracks. I loved them all, but by far my favorite (at least at the moment I was playing it) was the totally non-holiday-sounding Going To Grammy's House a rambling, instrumental blues anthem, where the right Rev. Bratcher puts on a blues guitar clinic.

But let's be clear: Jimmie Bratcher is not performing these red hot numbers all by himself. He is flanked by a manger full of blues musicians who help him turn Man! It's Christmas into one of the best albums I've heard this year. Of particular note is Tulsa Reed's harmonica on Go Tell It On The Mountain. David Chael's saxophone made an impression as well, particularly on the R&B version of I'll Be Home For Christmas. This versatile group of musicians plays with tremendous virtuosity in a number of genres, from blues, to rock, to jazz, to R&B. The instrumentals were impressive on every track.

What a way to begin winding down the reviewing season! Blues! Blues! Blues! Man! Man! Man! The Rev. Jimmie Bratcher makes a huge splash in my little Christmas pond with his beautiful Man! It's Christmas.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2006)

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From the liner notes:

Jimmie Bratcher - guitars & vocals
Paul Draper - b3
Rick Yord - bass
Brandon Draper - drums & percussion
Eric Stark - piano, rhodes, flugelhorn & background vocals on 1941
Tulsa Reed - harmonica
David Chael - sax
Daron Tapscott - violin & Mandolin

Producers
Jimmie Bratcher, Larry Gann, Eric Stark
Recorded, mixed & mastered - Larry Gann
Awestruck Studios, Kansas City, MO

The Rev. Jimmie Bratcher

Man! It's Christmas

Artist site

Track List