ALAN PETITTI

Back in the late 80s, before it was trendy, Alan started writing songs inspired by the Dixieland and Big Band / Swing era. Loosely based off of a riff from Glenn Miller’s song “In the Mood” and the vocal styling of Ray Charles, Alan came up with a melody for a smooth jazz number. Later, while sitting together at the piano, Alan scatted his idea to Joey Barbato. Being a jazz aficionado, Joey spontaneously began playing the perfect chords to accompany Alan's melody. Excited by what he was hearing, Alan jumped for his cassette recorder and captured the moment. Many years later, Alan befriended gospel singer Brian Duarte who's impeccable voice inspired Alan to revisit this song. During a casual musical conversation, Alan sang the melody to Brian, and when Brian sang it back to him, Alan immediately heard what he was looking for in order to produce a potential Christmas classic. After writing the lyrics, Alan invited Joey back to his studio to record the piano, strings, and double bass tracks. Then finally, like Santa delivering the goods, Alan recorded Brian's timeless vocal to complete the song "On Christmas Day".