One difference between this jazz Christmas album and other jazz Christmas albums is that it’s live. Another is that it’s a carols-only affair. Yet another is that for the bassist Friesen and the pianist, drummer, and two Saxes he both undergirds and unites, there’s no difference between jazz and Christmas. The quintet clearly states recognizable melodies, loses itself in exploratory improvisation, and returns with confident ease and elegant virtuosity. Arsenio Orteza WORLD MAGAZINE It’s been said of David Friesen that He does for the art of bass playing what Pythagoras did for the triangles Patrick Hinely/Jazz Times David Friesen has recorded over 75 CD's as a leader/ co-leader and appeared as a sideman or featured artist on more than 100 recordings. He has performed and/ or recorded with many of the great names and legends of jazz including: Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Sam Rivers, Michael Brecker, Bud Shank, Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Shaw, Freddy Hubbard, Art Farmer, Clark Terry, Joe Venuti, Mal Waldron, Jaki Byard, Kenny Drew Sr., Chick Corea, Milt Jackson, Slim Gaillard, John Scofield, Philly Joe Jones, Elvin Jones, Paul Motian, Jack Dejohnette, Airto Moreira, and many others. He has performed in concert as a soloist (Friesen is one of two or three bassists in the world that is able to play a solo concert and keep an audience riveted) and with his own groups throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, The Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Turkey, Poland, Japan, Australia, Argentina, Chile, China, Russia, Lithuania and the Ukraine. In 1997 he was nominated for the best jazz bassist in the American Jazz Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. In a 2006 jazz bass poll, David Friesen was listed as one of the 20 most influential bass players in the history of jazz. Also included in a recent poll as one of the 100 Greatest Jazz Bassists of all time. Friesen was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame at the first induction ceremony Sept. 2007 and the Oregon Jazz Society Hall of Fame May 2012. Bassist David Friesen is a phenomenon, a player whose musicianship, tone, time and imagination are uncategorizable. Nat Hentoff www.davidfriesen.net