[Blackwolf]

Believe me, Chefelf members --- I've heard plenty of CDs, but nothing prepared me for the awesome merriment that is at the core of You Gotta Believe in Me, the title cut from the debut album of (you're gonna love this!) Santa and the Toymakers!

The Tumminello family divide their time between Staten Island and Nashville, Tennessee. Tom, Sr., patriarch of the family, is the Santa-in-Residence at Chelsea's own ABC Carpet & Home, and has delighted all sorts of kids there every weekend throughout the holiday season for the last 14 years. John, one of his sons, lives in Nashville, where he runs 3 Minute Records and its parent entity, Mpire Management. During the summer, both Tumminellos spent a good deal of time in Nashville, laying the tracks down for the You Gotta Believe in Me album and single. Four of the tracks feature no less than Elvis' legendary vocal backup group, The Jordanaires!

Santa Tumminello has a neat lead vocal style, something that suits him quite well. In his brief intro to Blue Christmas, he describes how lonely he was for Mrs. Claus, who "was off visiting her sister in New York."

Still, Santa and the Toymakers are a neat ensemble. They are Charlie Morgan, drums and percussion; Dennis Burnside, piano; Robbie Calva, guitars; Jim Cook, bass; Fritz Hester, sax; and Anthony Stone, keyboards. Rounding out the personnel are Millie and Anne Kirkham as female backing vocals. The album is also a fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, The Children's Aid Society of New York City, the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation, and the Tumminello Family's own You Gotta Believe Foundation, which was developed to raise funds to supply musical inrtuments and related equipment to hospitals in the New York and Nashville areas.

Anyway, SantaandtheToymakers.com will have more info on the album, its charities, and you even get to listen to a segment from the aforementioned title cut! Neat, huh?

Meanwhile, it's another bloomin' Monday. I'm working with a single dollar, a DVD/VCR combo that only has the VCR portion working --- and I feel like whatever. Yet I needed to get the word out about the Toymakers, so here I am.

Later, dudes!

Master Blackwolf

[Chefelf]

That's pretty awesome. I wonder why Santa is holding that goose.