H3O Jazz Trio
Uniquely talented
Notes from the composer …
I started directing small Jazz Combos at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota in the late 1990s. There were no prerequisites for students to join the “Workshop Jazz Combo”. For many of the students it was their first time learning to improvise.
During the fall semester, the students and I dove into learning several jazz standards to perform in December at the end of the semester. This gave everyone plenty of time to get comfy improvising over “the changes”—the harmonic structure of the song.
In the fall of 2000, a student drummer named Kyle asked if we could include some traditional holiday tunes as part of the end of semester concert. At first, I was reluctant to do so. The students would have to learn to improvise on new “changes” and just “jazzing up” holiday tunes didn’t hold much appeal for me.
After a few days, I asked Kyle if he had a favorite jazz tune. His number one pick was “Watermelon Man” by Herbie Hancock. I asked myself, “What if the students could learn a new melody based on a holiday favorite while soloing over the changes they worked on all semester?”
The following week, I brought the combo the first of what would become a 25-year tradition of creating “Combo Carols” – holiday tunes arranged in the style of jazz standards. The students needed only to learn a new melody in the style of a jazz tune they had already learned and then improvise on the familiar changes.
Kyle had a flair for fashion which led to the title of the first Combo Carol. The mash-up of “The Little Drummer Boy” and “Watermelon Man” became “Funky Drummer Dude” –not on this album due to copyright issues – see below.
Over the past 25 years, I’ve managed to write at least one new Combo Carol every year, sometimes a couple. The Combo Carols catalog currently contains 33 originals. Beyond student groups, these arrangements have become favorites of professional groups I play with especially H3O.
Combo Carols features 13 of my favorites. Legal counsel has advised me not to reveal the names of the jazz standards to avoid any copyright infringements. However, each title gives a wink and a nudge to the original tune. Have fun listening and trying to guess which holiday song is connected to each jazz standard!
A. Eric Heukeshoven (ASCAP)
Winona, Minnesota
November 2025
© H3O Jazz Trio