Work on The Noël Project, Kelly’s upcoming holiday album, is coming along nicely.

Last Friday (Sep 6) we brought Bryon Atterberry and Marc Miller into the studio to lay drums and bass tracks (respectively) for six of the songs. Video producer Mike McCoy shot some footage of the session to be used in a few promotional spots to be rolled out on YouTube over the next few weeks.

We’re excited about all the guests that are a part of this project. Jackson Wesley Rice will be featured on flugelhorn for a jazzed-up rendition of The Coventry Carol. Carina Lewis, accompanied by Scott A. Burnett, is performing a stunning rendition of Sweet Little Jesus Boy. Carl Kelley, who crushed it on Kelly’s 2010 inspirational song “Love One Another”, returns for a chilling and beautiful take on Debbie Owen’s “That Silent Night”. Woodwind wunderkind, Bruce Babad, is flaunting his flute prowess on a latin excursion of “The Holly and the Ivy”.

Now please enjoy a rough mix of Kelly’s adaptation of Bach’s “Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring”. There is still work to be done here, including adding electric guitar(s) and various tweaks. Included in this version, in raw form, is a four minute jam at the end. “I love to give the players room to stretch out at the end of a song. Something truly unexpected and wonderful always happens.” In order to be radio-friendly, the final version of the song will include only a small amount of the jam, so enjoy it here, folks!