Friday, December 01, 2006

‘Tis the Season

...to break out the Christmas jazz CDs! This is the time of year when we pull out the CDs from storage that are geared for the holidays. Our favorites include:


Blue Yule – Sometimes the blues and Christmas go together like grits and eggs. Lightnin’ Hopkins and Sonny Boy Williamson (singing about "Santy Claw") are some of the folks who provide a look at a non-Hallmark view of Christmas.






A Concord Christmas – We bought this one for Rosemary Clooney’s version of "Christmas Time is Here." It’ll have you crying in your eggnog.




Jingle Bell Jazz – this is one I owned in LP form for many years. My favorites are Duke Ellington’s "Jingle Bells" and Dexter Gordon’s "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." But not to be missed is Miles Davis and Bob Dorough’s "Blue Xmas." To say it’s a cynical view of the holiday season would be an understatement.





What a Wonderful Christmas – It’s Satchmo. What else needs to be said?










A Charlie Brown Christmas – this is the soundtrack from what is now a holiday tradition. (I remember when it first aired!) The original music was composed by pianist Vince Guaraldi and played by his trio. This year, there’s a newly remastered version out, with four new bonus tracks. "Christmas Time is Here" has since become a holiday standard and "Linus and Lucy" an all-around favorite.

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