Trumpeter Ryan Montaño’s latest offering is perfect for the season. “I Heard The Bells” is his interpretation of the 1863 holiday classic “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The goal is to give the song a longer shelf life beyond the holiday season much as he Modern Jazz Quartet did with some of the music from their classic album “Plastic Dreams”
The personal on the song includes some of New Mexico’s master musicians including Steve Figueroa on Piano, Arnaldo Acosta on Drums, bassist Ben Cornelius and guitarist John Maestas originally from the Duke City but now based in New Orleans. The song was arranged and produced by Ryan and recorded by Dave McCrae at Third Eye Studio in Tijeras and mastered in NYC by Joe Yannece. Montaño also was responsible for the mixdown and designed the artwork with the assistance of photographer Dominic Montaño and graphic designers Camilo Quiñones and Christiana Kim.
“I Heard The Bells” is Montaño’s second holiday release and he plans on releasing a Christmas song every year for the foreseeable future.
Available on all streaming platforms or download or stream it here via Spotify from Ryan’s website.