Each song is special to me in ways comparable to loving your children: I love them all for their uniqueness and cannot choose one piece over another. They each represent a part of me in their own way. I compare a lot of what I did with this album to my other favorite past time: Cooking. I cook the same way I sing! I don’t read music nor do I follow a recipe (much to my mother’s chagrin!). I cook when the spirit (or an empty stomach!) moves me and I sing when the spirit drives me! I create both my music and meals through the same mental regime: “A dash of this, a dash of that, maybe a bit of this spice, maybe I should add some more, how about we spice things up a notch, how about adding a little more wine.”

My music is “flavored” (much like the dishes I prepare in my kitchen) with spices such as Chili (the “adopted Latino” in me), Oregano, Basil and Garlic (the traditional Greek in me!), and finally a little beer to mellow things out (the German in me!). May my music bring to you the flavors of many cultures and nourish both your ears and your soul. Enjoy!

FOR A "TASTE" CLICK EACH SONG TITLE.

1 Kala Cristougenna/Feliz Navidad - I was listening to Celine Dion’s version of Feliz Navidad, and decided that it would be really neat to incorporate a “call and response” style as she did with her family members. However, I also thought it would be really fun to re-write the lyrics and represent a part of my heritage by adding Greek lyrics that would rhythmically fit the music. I added a key change “just for kicks”, and had a great time determining which notes to hold while my band did the work of changing the key for me! I felt like I was “hanging on for dear life” on those few notes!

2 O Holy Night - I sang this song as a solo when I was in high school for our annual madrigal dinner show. I liked the idea of making the song into a harmonized duet with lots of percussion enhancement underneath. Thanks to Harry, he made sure this song had several percussive moments that still make me close my eyes and smile each time I hear them.

3 I’ll Be Home For Christmas – I wanted to “mellow out” a bit with this song. I liked the idea of doing a “human muted horn” part during the instrumental section. I remembered hearing a similar sound when I was performing in Kalamazoo, Michigan during my senior year of college, so I thought I would try it out and see “what if”. What you hear is what we created from that moment!

4 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen – this was a LOT of fun to create! It happened very spontaneously for us! I started scatting a cappella and realized that the musical mode of this particular piece had a very Greek/Middle Eastern sound to it, so I took advantage of it and decided to improvise the beginning and bank on being in key prior to the instruments starting. The initial version of this song was not as you hear it currently. It was much harsher and only one voice instead of six overlays. The current revision has a more mellow/70’s jazz flavor to it. The scat in the middle of the song is a tribute to one of my favorite movies, and yet it is still my own tune because I changed ONE note. See if you can guess which note it is and what song is being sung! Good luck!

5 My Grown up Christmas List – This was the most challenging song for me to record. This song was originally performed by Natalie Cole, and then re-recorded by Amy Grant. The trouble/frustration I encountered while performing this piece was that I couldn’t find a way to make it my own. I kept trying to sing in the style of Natalie and Amy instead of singing in the style of Christi! Both Trevor and Harry pushed me and gave me lots of support while I dug deep inside my soul and finally found ME in the song! It was a great lesson and learning experience for me. I am grateful that both Harry and Trevor vetoed my decision to cut this song because it is my mom’s favorite!

6 O Tannenbaum/O Christmas Tree – I always liked the Charlie Brown Christmas Special version of this song and wanted to incorporate the German lyrics in order to pay tribute to my father’s side of the family. Trevor suggested to me to “say something” during the instrumental portion of the song, so, on the fly once again, I decided to talk to you, my listeners, and tell you a little bit about my family and what we like to do during the holidays. It ended up being a very touching and heart felt moment for me.

7 Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – I have always enjoyed this song during the holidays and enjoyed the simplicity of the accompaniment and tenderness of the lyrics.

8 Agia Nixta/Silent Night – I created this traditional carol through careful thought and assessment of both the lyrics and the music. This has always been one of my all-time favorite carols, and I felt the Greek lyrics added such a beautiful touch and enhanced the true meaning of this carol. I initially wanted the harmony to be in a “round format” in English so that the Greek melody could stand out and offset the harmony. After careful consideration, simplicity was paramount for this tender song, and a simple doubling of the voices (one melodic and one harmonic line) with both languages symbolized the uniting of both my Greek and English heritage.

9 The Christmas Song/Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire – Mel Torme has always been one of my favorite singers, and I wanted to do this song justice by keeping it in the traditional format. No major embellishments, just a clean vocal line with beautiful instrumentals.

10 O Come all Ye Faithful - It was time to “kick things up a bit” and get some spice back into this album! We joked about the style in which I sang this piece because it most definitely does NOT follow the traditional format! I thought it would be a parallel to what was done in the movie Sister Act 2 when Whoopie Goldberg changes the very “strict” style of Joyful Joyful into a “ livened up” gospel arrangement. I guess you can say we were “kickin’ it up for Christmas!”

11 Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree – All I can say about this tune is“WHOO WEE!” It was so much fun to make and it really exceeded my initial expectations of what Trevor could do with my voice. This song has NINE vocal parts. I sang the melody three times, and then recorded the two harmony tracks three times each. Trevor gave me a lot of freedom with this piece and made many invaluable suggestions!

12 We Wish You a Merry Christmas (In the Islands) – OK! This song needs a LOT of explaining. Both Harry and Mark though I had really lost my marbles when I suggested the idea of making this very well known carol into an “eighty degree weather” celebration of the Caribbean! I started spontaneously singing Saint Thomas by Sonny Rollins during rehearsal of this song and I realized that the melody fit PERFECTLY with the Christmas Carol. Then, I decided to get bold and try out some Bob Marley and found that One Love ALSO fit! It was too much fun! The intro was also completely spontaneous and was initially the “rough draft” version, but we all liked the feel of it so much, we decided to just keep it! May this song bring you a laugh and warm feeling inside, as well as a desire to travel south for Christmas once in your lifetime!

13 Away In A Manger – This song was a complete surprise for me. I didn’t prepare it until I went into the studio and decided to try it out and see if it would sound ok without the band to back me up. Not only did I like the simplicity of it, but after nine layers of vocal work (the same format as Rockin’ around…), I found this piece offered a really ethereal and almost an “Andrews Sisters” quality of sound.

14 Carol of the Birds – This piece has sentimental value for me. Not only is it a very unique Catalonian Carol, but it was another song performed while I was in the Madrigal Dinner in high school. We performed it as an ensemble, but I decided to create a “round” effect by layering the vocal lines during the second through fourth verses. The three part harmony was a lot of fun to arrange and created some very unique moments in the piece.