SNOWED IN!
New album out 12/1/2023
Featuring the incredible Kimberly Hawkey, as well as bandleader Dan Gabel - this time on vocals and trombone, this new Big Band album is destined to become a classic. Dan's brand new original "Snow Ball Strut" is already popular among dancers, and Kimberly's authentic but original interpretations of these timeless songs are a fresh take on the holidays.
So, come get cozy, grab a warming beverage and your favorite socks, and get "Snowed In" with us!
Critics say A new album with a classic sound, destined to become a holiday tradition
Dance Through the Holidays (2022)
Thanksgiving to New Years
We are thrilled to announce our band new holiday album, released December 2, 2022 and now available!
The full big band is heard on most tracks, as well as the Abletones Combo, and two numbers for our trombone section.
REVIEW:
"The Abeltones [sic] are both jazzier and truer to the live performances of the era than most of their modern day peers, who often play a crystalized Hollywood version of WWII and postwar nostalgia. Gabel is the real thing, immersed in the material, and even on a Christmas album that shines through."
"The music is so authentic to the 1940s that I momentarily forgot I was supposed to be reviewing it as a contemporary album. While there are many female vocalists who can achieve a period sound, Gabel has a uniquely appropriate male vocal and could share a stage with any gentlemen of the era. His arrangements are also spot on."
-Joe Bebco, Syncopated Times, October 27, 2023
New and classic favorites
There are sixteen tracks designed for dancing, and celebrating the holidays: Thanksgiving to New Years.
We also introduce Ms. Jenny Swoish, from Nashville Tennessee, and featured vocalist with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. We also backed Jenny on her upcoming release "Tonight...in Dreamland" featuring all new arrangements by Dan Gabel, and expected to be released in spring 2023.
holiday albumRECORDINGS
Perhaps you have heard stories of how holiday records are made. Given the scope of such projects, most of our favorite albums or songs were made in the middle of the summer. Sammy Cahn penned Let it Snow on a 100-degree day in August. Irving Berlin composed our beloved White Christmas on the hottest day of the year on a Hollywood backlot. The same is true for our albums: Herb Gardner wrote Merry G
Our Big Band was recorded using vintage tube and ribbon microphones "live" on stage, the audio puts the listener "in the room".
Here is the Telefunken U-47 that captured most of the sound of the orchestra in the room, with all of us live on stage. This is the only way to capture an acoustic Big Band, and harkens back to the great recordings of the 1940s and 50s.
Nothing beats recording "live" on stage - where the power of the full big band is captured acoustically, just as the audience would hear it in the room.
Dan Gabel and The Abletones is proud to perform and record acoustically whenever possible. The blend and warmth achieved from this technique achieves a stunning audio result on the record!
in memoriam: donn trenner
As an added treat, we feature the incredible guest pianists: Mr. Donn Trenner. Donn has, quite literally, played with everyone. From Les Brown to Frank Sinatra and director of Steve Allen’s Tonight Show band. A “goosebumps” moment I’ll never forget was after recording I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm when Donn turned and said “Dan, Les would be proud.”
What we didn't realize while recording in fall 2019 that this was to be Donn Trenner's last recording session.
We lost Donn on May 16, 2020.
We'd like to dedicate this album to the memory of Donn Trenner. A truly incredible musician, pianist, arranger - but above all: a kind, giving, warm, and beautiful human being. Dan Gabel is honored to have called him a friend.
Donn plays both piano and celeste on the album.
We recorded three Les Brown arrangements, and yes, Donn was the pianist on the originals!
Shown here, Donn plays "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies" on our 1930s Celeste.
Les Brown originals:
-I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
-The Christmas Song
-The Nutcracker Suite
HOLIDAY NOTES
Liner notes intro by Dan Gabel
Perhaps you have heard stories of how holiday records are made. Given the scope of such projects, most of our favorite albums or songs were made in the middle of the summer. Sammy Cahn penned Let it Snow on a 100-degree day in August. Irving Berlin composed our beloved White Christmas on the hottest day of the year on a Hollywood backlot. The same is true for this album: Herb Gardner wrote Merry Gents on Easter Sunday, and I wrote several of these arrangements on a train trip over Memorial Day Weekend. No matter the time and place, it was clear from the very start that this was going to be a special project - honest music from the heart that just sounds great.
It was July 4th, and I was relaxing with my family, sitting in the gazebo at twilight with fireflies flickering all around when it came to us: “By the Fireside!” As soon as I heard it, I knew that had to be the title, and the concept that tied the whole record together. Big band music is my passion and life’s work and I am thrilled that my band has an authentic style, but with new, unique, and lovingly created arrangements written especially for us. Thus, we have an album with classic style and appeal for all ages: dancing, baking cookies, spending time with friends/family, or relaxing By the Fireside. It is my earnest hope that you enjoy this record for years to come.
As an added treat, we feature two incredible guest pianists: Mr. Herb Gardner and Mr. Donn Trenner. Herb played with all of the jazz greats in New York and around the world and was an early trombone hero of mine. Donn Trenner has, quite literally, played with everyone. From Les Brown to Frank Sinatra and director of Steve Allen’s Tonight Show band. A “goosebumps” moment I’ll never forget was after recording I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm when Donn turned and said “Dan, Les would be proud.”
SNOWED IN!
Get "Snowed In" with us!
Featuring the incredible Kimberly Hawkey, as well as bandleader Dan Gabel - this time on vocals and trombone, this new Big Band album is destined to become a classic. Dan's brand new original "Snow Ball Strut" is already popular among dancers, and Kimberly's authentic but original interpretations of these timeless songs are a fresh take on the holidays.
So, come get cozy, grab a warming beverage and your favorite socks, and get "Snowed In" with us!
Critics say: "A new album with a classic sound, destined to become a holiday tradition"
Full review here: Syncopated Times (December 2024 issue)