Mannheim Steamroller is the brainchild of Chip Davis, a percussionist, and Jackson Berkey, a keyboard player.  Mannheim Steamroller is a New Age orchestra that combines New Age music with neo-classical music supplemented by synthesizers.  Lots of synthesizers!  Mannheim Steamroller has recorded many albums of New Age music, but they are probably best known for their Christmas albums.

For the very first album, Fresh Aire, recorded in 1974, Chip Davis couldn’t get any record label interested in his music, so he started his own record label, American Gramaphone.  All the Mannheim Steamroller albums have been released on American Gramaphone since then.

Mannheim Steamroller continues to tour annually at Christmas time, and I guarantee they will be performing close to you next year.

Mannheim Steamroller has released over 35 albums, including 11 Christmas albums.  Currently, my collection contains all the major Christmas albums and two Christmas compilation CDs; Christmas Celebration, released in 2004, and the 25th Anniversary Collection, released in 2009.  If I discover that any of the other compilation albums contain significantly different versions of previously released Christmas music, I will add them to my collection.

Chip Davis has recorded and released 3 Christmas CDs under his own name, but I haven’t added any of those to my collection.  Not yet, but hopefully, soon.

Mannheim Steamroller – Official Fan Site to Mannheim Steamroller

Mannheim Steamroller – Wikipedia