Appealing Christmas and non-Christmas highlights from this afternoon:
The Coffee House Discovery
- The Way I Love You-Michal Leah (This October release deserves its due for Leah's self-assured vocals and lyrics that find yet another way to say, "We drive each other crazy sometimes, but we're still soulmates." This could be used for slow dances at weddings.)
Cool Jazz Christmas
- The First Noel-George Howard (Sunny saxophone, in keeping with Howard's style.)
Deep Tracks
- Sunny-The Electric Flag (For the majority of listeners, "Sunny" is best known as an oldie by Bobby Hebb. The Electric Flag deserves its due for transforming the tune into a much slower blues-rock number with forthright guitar, organ, and vocals. To some extent, this reminds me of Vanilla Fudge's approach to "You Keep Me Hangin' On.")
Hallmark Channel Radio
- Sleigh Ride-Ella Fitzgerald (Using a big band-style arrangement that one might expect from Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett suits Fitzgerald's vocals well.)
Holiday Instrumentals
- Deck The Halls-Billy Andrusco (A tasteful, stately piano rendition.)
Holiday Pops
- In The Bleak Midwinter-The Philadelphia Orchestra (The strings, flute, and piano play this carol with appropriate sensitivity.)
Holiday Soul
- White Christmas-The Whispers (A catchy fit for the dance floor of 1979.)
Real Jazz Holiday
- Jingle Bells-Don Patterson (Due to the tune's simplicity, most versions of "Jingle Bells" sound mediocre to me. Paul Mauriat and his orchestra recorded an excellent version, in my opinion. Joel Mabus's version, under the title "The One Horse Open Sleigh," is a fun, brisk romp for acoustic guitar. Jimmy Smith's approach to it on the organ is also appealing. Thanks to Don Patterson, I can recommend one more version. Patterson's expansive rendition has cool Booker T.-style organ and smooth guitar.)
SiriusXMU
- Talking Backwards-Real Estate (An honest account of how difficult it is for the protagonist to tell his girlfriend how deeply he feels about her. Tuneful guitar accompaniment, as usual. Also recommended: "Crime" and "Darling.")
Spa
- The Moon's Lament-Shoshana Michel (Downcast piano fit for a melancholy night or absorbing bad news during a soap opera.)
