Seasonal selections heard this morning:
Cool Jazz Christmas
- White Christmas-Warren Hill (Easy-on-the-ears saxophone and piano.)
- Carol Of The Bells-Carol Albert ("Carol Of The Bells" isn't one of my favorite Yuletide tunes, but Albert's commanding piano playing, the periodic vocal punctuation, and strings make this one of the better versions I've heard.)
Country Christmas
- I'll Be Home For Christmas-Martina McBride (McBride consistently sings country crossover renditions of carols with just the right amount of emotion.)
Holiday Instrumentals
- Santa Claus Is Coming To Town-Ramsey Lewis Trio (Lewis plays this on the piano at a slower tempo than it's usually performed and gives it an interesting bluesy cast. Also recommended: "Sleigh Ride.")
- White Christmas-Booker T. & The MGs (One of the hippest renditions, thanks to the piano and organ arrangements.)
Holiday Pops
- Once In Royal David's City-St. Paul's Cathedral Choir/Andrew Carwood, director (This carol has grown on me in recent years. In the best versions, such as this one, the verses build conspicuously in volume and intensity.)
- Still...Still...Still...-Kelly Yost (Yost plays this with an appropriately delicate touch on the piano. Also, it's a minor plus, but props for punctuating the title as it ought to be, instead of using a comma between each Still.)
- It Came Upon A Midnight Clear-Arturo Delmoni String Quartet (A prim, proper rendering, characteristic of Delmoni & Friends renditions of carols.)
- The Christmas Song-Isthmus Brass (This ensemble conveys the tune's warmth as effectively as any vocal or string ensemble.)
Holiday Traditions
- Angels We Have Heard On High-Cedar Glen Orchestra/Chorus (It's easy for me to imagine a soft rock or easy listening station in 1980 playing this before or after "We Need A Little Christmas" by The New Christy Minstrels.)
- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing-Andy Williams (Surprisingly, this is one rendition I've rarely heard on the radio, possibly because it has a slightly melancholy undercurrent.)
Holidays With Anne Murray
- It Came Upon A Midnight Clear-Anne Murray (Murray's voice is a natural fit for this carol.)
Holly
- Feliz Navidad-Kacey Musgraves (Ordinarily, I don't seek out any version of this except for Jose Feliciano's, but Musgraves and her backing singers do the tune justice, giving it an appropriate percolating energy.)
- Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!-Seal (I associate Seal with strong, serious tunes such as "Crazy" and "Prayer For The Dying," so it's out of character to hear him sound this lighthearted.)
Real Jazz Holiday
- Sleigh Ride-Agunko (A brassy Latin instrumental rendition.)
- God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen-Christian Sands (Infectious Latin jazz piano and percussion.)
Sleep Christmas
- Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas-Michael John Hall (A warm piano rendition.)
Smokey's Holiday Soul Town
- The Christmas Song-Smokey Robinson (Robinson is a natural fit vocally for this relaxed version.)
- One Little Christmas Tree-Stevie Wonder (This is one of the more underrated tracks from Wonder's "Someday At Christmas" album, sung from the perspective of a Christmas tree Charlie Brown might have chosen. Also recommended: "A Warm Little Home On A Hill.")
- White Christmas-The Four Tops (After hearing such authoritative vocals, I expect to look out the window and see snow, even if it's not in the forecast.)
