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Our Review

Tom Ransom's A Ransomed Christmas is a pleasant listening experience, either as background in an instrumental mix or in the foreground played straight through. At 50 minutes, this is an ample recording, featuring contemporary, primarily new age arrangements of eleven traditional carols. The only true "jazz" arrangement was White Christmas, which was also the only modern pop song on the CD.

I found Mr. Ransom's arrangements to be both soothing and energizing. Best I can tell from the liner notes and the Web site, A Ransomed Christmas is an electronic recording. This fact, however, does not detract from its inherent warmth. All of the tunes he chose to include are well-known and will carry their own connotations with most listeners. My favorite was the somewhat flamenco-styled Feliz Navidad. I also enjoyed the purely new age arrangement of Bring A Torch, Jeannette, Isabella. This is not a song I am particularly fond of. For one thing, it has never been clear to me whether Jeannette and Isabella are the same person, or two. And although that riddle is not solved here, Mr. Ransom's delightful guitar- and piano-laden arrangement gives me hope that it will one day be solved.

I had a bit of trouble loading the CDR disc onto my iPod (and I was never able to get it to read O Holy Night), so my listening experience was slightly marred. But I thoroughly enjoyed the remaining tracks. Tom Ransom's A Ransomed Christmas should be of interest to those who enjoy contemporary instrumental arrangements.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2006)

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From the liner notes:

All songs arranged, recorded, mixed and masteed by Tom Ransom, Ransomed Productions 3310 West 77th Place Lenexa, KS 66216 From the Web site:

Ransomed Productions has been serving recording artists since 1988. Owner and engineer Tom Ransom has over 25 years in the recording business. Tom holds a degree in professional music from the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston as well as a degree in Music Education from the University of Missouri.

For over 12 years, Tom used his extensive education to teach music technology in the Kansas City magnet schools.

Tom has three of his own CDs under his belt in which he composed, arranged, recorded, mixed, and mastered the entire work. He also has written and arranged numerous instrumental and vocal compositions for local and national clients.

Tom Ransom

A Ransomed Christmas

Artist site

Track List