Article from “The Scene” by Red Rock News December of 2019
Category : Media & Testimonials
‘A Sedona Christmas’ CD set to debut Dec. 8
The long awaited CD from Rosemary & Frankie Chavez “A Sedona Christmas” is here. The couple will be debuting it during the annual Jim Buchanan and Friends concert at Christ Lutheran Church on Dec. 8, at 3 pm with the CD available after the concert.
Joining the Chavezes for an afternoon of holiday favorites will be the talents of the church’s music director, Jim Buchanan, on piano and organ, with Steve Sandner on piano and vocals. These musicians are back with special music selections by popular demand after last year’s heartfelt show.
The Chavezes are no strangers to the music scene in the Sedona area, where they continue to perform live for special events. In their successful performance and recording careers, they have traveled internationally and played numerous upscale venues, concerts and clubs.
As a drummer and percussionist, Frankie Chavez has worked with such greats as Lionel Hampton, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Larry Carlton and celebrities like Mitzi Gaynor, Pat Boone and Bobby Gentry. Vocalist Rosemary Chavez has toured under the direction of world- acclaimed conductor Weston Noble, and has an extensive performance and recording career including three songs on the movie soundtrack album “Roar” starring actresses Tippi Hedren and Melanie Griffith.
The drummer is world-famous Tico Torres from Bon Jovi and the hot guitar solo is played by Rick Witkowski of the classic rock group, Crack The Sky. Rosemary is also the featured vocalist on Terence P. Minogue’s “American Voices” CD and the featured vocalist on the “Sweet Jazz a’la mode” CD.
“‘A Sedona Christmas’ has been a labor of love over the past year,” Frankie Chavez said. “We wanted to include ‘Merry Christmas Darling’ on our CD in remembrance of the beauty of Karen Carpenter and her extraordinary talent and spirit.”
Frankie and Karen were not only high school friends, but he was also her first drum teacher.
“Karen continues to be one of the most beloved voices of our time and she was a phenomenal drummer,” he said. “Little did we know when choosing this as one of the songs for our latest CD that a film crew would come to Sedona and capture us in the studio for an upcoming documentary.”
Several years ago, Randy L. Schmidt, critically acclaimed author of the book “Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter” interviewed and included Frankie Chavez as part of that book. In 2016, Frankie Chavez was also interviewed and was part of “The Nation’s Favorite Carpenters Songs,” a documentary celebrating the best loved songs of the biggest selling sister and brother act in music history.
This fall, Schmidt once again contacted Frankie and asked him to be part of a documentary entitled “A Song for Karen. The Legacy of Karen Carpenter.” In October, a film crew from Emmy award-winning AMS Pictures came to Sedona and shot footage of Frankie Chavez while in the studio finishing up the CD.
While in the studio, the film crew also captured Rosemary Chavez singing “Merry Christmas Darling” and her original composition “Angels All Around Us.”
“I have frequently been asked when I was going to have a recording of ‘Angels All Around Us,’ and we knew this was the time for its release.” Rosemary Chavez said.
“Additionally, we wanted to include ‘You Can Hear Christmas Bells,’ which is an original song written by Terence P. Minogue…. His work has been performed by several symphonies and his vocal group, American Voices, has four Christmas albums.”
Rounding out the CD are “The Little Drummer Boy” and “Mary, Did You Know?”
Christ Lutheran Church is located at the corner of State Route 179 and Chapel Road. Pick up a copy of Sedona Christmas or go to store.cdbaby.com/cd/