A new holiday song with a rat pack vibe
Just in time for the holidays, Washington State University Music Emeritus Professor Greg Yasinitsky has a new song, “It’s Santa!,” which is now streaming on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon, Deezer, and more.
The holiday song also is also included in the Winter Jazz Playlist, which is available on multiple streaming sites.
“It’s Santa!” has a fun, swinging rat pack vibe: vocals with a roaring big band. The song was recorded in two versions with vocalist Horace Alexander Young and Yasinitsky’s YAZZ Band, and with the JECCA Vocal Jazz Ensemble, directed by Kathleen Hollingsworth, director of choral activities at Clackamas College, performing with Yasinitsky’s YAZZ Band.
“It’s Santa!” has a fun, swinging rat pack vibe: vocals with a roaring big band.
The recordings feature WSU emeritus faculty members Yasinitsky, who plays saxophone, vocalist Young and drummer David Jarvis, along with current WSU faculty members Sarah and A.J. Miller, trombones.
Also featured are saxophonists David Larsen, director of bands at Spokane Falls Community College — who recently completed his doctorate at WSU — and undergraduate music major Thomas Wieland, performing with John Harbaugh, trumpet professor at Central Washington University, and University of Idaho faculty members Vern Sielert, trumpet; Kate Skinner, piano; and Josh Skinner, bass.
“It’s Santa!” was commissioned by the BYU Idaho Jazz Band and Vocal Jazz Ensemble for their annual Christmas Concert. It was performed on last year’s Washington Idaho Symphony holiday concert by the WIS Jazz Band, directed by Yasinitsky.
Yasinitsky, one of the most published composers in jazz, served in the School of Music for 40 years as coordinator of jazz studies, professor of saxophone and composition, and as director of the School of Music.
