Natalie Cressman and Ian Faquini Partner on New Charity Christmas EP, Benefiting Colon Cancer Research

Natalie Cressman and Ian Faquini have come together for a new EP, An Old Fashioned Christmas, due out on limited edition vinyl on Nov. 14 and a digital format via GroupUp Music on Dec. 8. All proceeds raised through the sale of the record will be donated to fighting colon cancer, specifically via charities near and dear to a fellow member of Trey Anastasio Band, the late James Casey. 

Burgeoning on modern jazz, folk, and pop tropes, the impending four-track EP presents Bay Area couple Cressman (trombone) and Faquini (guitarist, vocalist, and composer) leaning into the season as self-proclaimed “Jews who love Christmas.” An Old Fashioned Christmas was recorded on Christmas Eve 2022 and is steeped in nostalgia, conjuring memories of holidays.

Side A of the impending record comprises mid-century favorites, beginning with the Walter Kent/Kim Gannon wartime classic, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” the bittersweet utterances of familial separation during the holidays. “It’s a happy, hopeful time, but also a time of longing,” Cressman commented via press release. 

“I’ll Be Home For Christmas” holds a similar sense of longing as the Kent/ Gannon number. “It’s one of those songs that you hear all the time without really thinking about it,” says Cressman. “But when you listen to the lyrics, you realize how sad it is.” Sans lyrics, the Brazilian-American duo’s instrumental approach is layered with big horn sounds and languid guitar solos.  

The pair close Side A with a take on the lesser-known Jimmy Van Heusen/Sammy Cahn tune, “An Old Fashioned Christmas.” Initially recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1964, Cressman first encountered the number while residing in New York, across the country from her family. “The lyrics ‘I’d trade that whole Manhattan skyline/The shimmering steel and chrome/For one old fashioned Christmas back home’ really hit me at that particular time,” the trombonist offered. She continued, “The song sums up the feelings that I have around Christmas time – which is of happiness and childhood memories, but also of being caught up in the shuffle and wishing for simpler times.”

On the B Side, Faquini pays homage to his Brazilian roots on the samba-dominant cover of Tchaikovsky’s “Waltz of the Flowers” from The Nutcracker. Referencing his move to the States and juxtaposed holiday temperatures, Faquini said, “I think people forget that half the world celebrates Christmas in the summer.” 

In adapting the choice material from orchestral arrangements to duets, Cressman recalls, “It was late at night and we had been inching our way through the original version. We just started goofing around, performing it as a samba.” Before long, the pair realized that they had something special.

Faquini added, “[It] just worked better in a duet setting. When I was working out the arrangements, there were some parts that just felt impossible. We were going to miss a lot of

different voices from the orchestra.” Cressman added, “Somehow, performing it as a samba gave it some space to be different. It took on a life of its own.”

All proceeds from An Old Fashioned Christmas will benefit The Colorectal Cancer Alliance and Eastern Virginia Medical School’s Hope’s Clinic, providing free colon cancer screenings to those in need.

For more information, visit www.nataliecressman.com.