InRO Christmas 09 - Christmas Jazz with Robert Gabrielsky

Feature by Robert Gabrielsky: I love Christmas music. The religious kind, the secular kind, and the kind that really doesn't have much to do with Christmas at all, like "Baby It's Cold Outside" or "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm." There's Christmas music in virtually every conceivable western musical genre, from the European classic tradition (Bach to Stravinsky), to the American popular tradition (Victor Herbert to Mariah Carey). There's the Western Swing Christmas of Gene Autry's "Here Comes Santa Claus," the Rockabilly Christmas of Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," and the Drifters' astonishing doo-wop version of the Irving Berlin classic, "White Christmas." But my favorite Christmas music is Christmas jazz, often readily available through the modern miracle of downloading.

Let’s start at the top. The Christmas jazz selection I love most is Fats Waller's "Swingin' Them Jingle Bells," an arrangement of the original ("Jingle Bells") done in his singular style. A close second would be John Lewis's arrangement of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," which the Modern Jazz Quartet pianist liked to call "England's Carol." I’m aware of at least three versions of this one. The first is on the 1956 album The Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn with Jimmy Giuffre. In 1960, Lewis recorded it again with a German symphony orchestra on the album The Modern Jazz Quartet and Orchestra. But my preferred recording is from the John Lewis album European Windows, which features a middle-sized chamber ensemble of 16 strings and a small brass choir from the Stuttgart Symphony Orchestra. It’s augmented by British baritone sax player, Ronnie Ross, and Czech flautist. Gerry Weinkopf accompanies Lewis on piano and his cohorts from the MJQ, Percy Heath on bass and Connie Kay on drums. This was Lewis's “Third Stream” attempt to merge jazz and classical music. The easy-listening version is a precursor to Smooth Jazz, though, to me, it’s much more aesthetically valid.

• [Tunes] The Drifters' "White Christmas"

• [Tunes] Fats Waller's "Swingin' Them Jingle Bells"

• [Albums] John Lewis's European Windows (1958)

Then there's John Coltrane. Trane’s "My Favorite Things," from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music," is often thought of as a Christmas song. It's featured on the album of the same name, which is terrific from beginning to end. When it came out in 1960, it was popular enough to be heard on juke boxes in hip urban neighborhoods. It signaled Trane's rehabilitation of the soprano saxophone as a popular musical instrument. (He had apparently become attracted to it after listening to Sidney Bechet recordings.) Other works from jazz legends include Charlie “Bird” Parker’s rendition of "White Christmas" and Billie Holiday's "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm." Louis “The Source” Armstrong, trumpeter giant of giants, recorded several Christmas-oriented tunes, the best being "Christmas In New Orleans"—arranged by the legendary Benny Carter, who allowed Louis substantial blowing space. And of course Ray Charles and Betty Carter are staples, together supplying the definitive version of the oft-recorded "Baby It's Cold Outside," from their 1966 album, Ray Charles and Betty Carter.

• [Albums] John Coltrane: My Favorite Things (1960)

• [Albums] Ray Charles & Betty Carter: Ray Charles & Betty... (1966)

• [Tunes] John Coltrane's "My Favorite Things"

• [Tunes] Charlie Parker's "White Christmas"

• [Tunes] Billie Holiday's "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm"

• [Tunes] Louis Armstrong's "Christmas in New Orleans"

"The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" gave singer/song writer Mel Torme (who co-wrote the tune with Robert Wells) enough royalties to live comfortably for the rest of his life, and turned world class jazz pianist Nat King Cole into a full time singer. But the definitive jazz version is an instrumental by legendary bop tenor man Dexter Gordon, from his album The Panther. The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Vanguard Jazz Orchestra give us "A Child Is Born," from their album Consummation. And then there’s the lesser-known pianist/band leader Claude Thornhill, who anticipated cool jazz, and who gave Gil Evans his first professional arranging job. Thornhill's theme song, arranged by Thornhill himself, was the wintery, definitely cool "Snowfall."

• [Tunes] Dexter Gordon's "The Christmas Song"

• [Tunes] Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Vanguard's "A Child Is Born"

• [Tunes] Claude Thornhill's "Snowfall"

Many talented musicians have recorded whole albums of largely nondescript Christmas music, yet with one or two outstanding cuts. Here's a few examples: Organist Jimmy Smith's arrangement of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," featuring a big band brass choir and tympani on his album Christmas '64; "Christmas Time Is Here" from A Charlie Brown Christmas, by Vince Guaraldi, who was a kind of road company version of Dave Brubeck; Peggy Lee's "I Like a Sleigh Ride (Jingle Bells)," available on her Christmas Carnival CD; Diana Krall's version of "What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve," from her LP Christmas Songs; and Ramsey Lewis's "Here Comes Santa Claus," which can be downloaded from his Sounds of Christmas album.

• [Tunes] Jimmy Smith's "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"

• [Tunes] Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas Time Is Here"

• [Tunes] Peggy Lee's "I Like a Sleigh Ride (Jingle Bells)"

• [Tunes] Diana Krall's "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve"

• [Tunes] Ramsey Lewis's "Here Comes Santa Claus"

However, if you prefer full albums, there are a few great Christmas jazz collections out there. Probably the most widely accessible of these is the Columbia/Sony 1990 anthology Jingle Bell Jazz, which features a swinging "Jingle Bells" by the same Duke Ellington personnel that rocked the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival. The Miles Davis group is featured, too, on an arrangement by Gil Evans of a cynical lyric by Bob Dorough about the commercialism of the holidays ("Blue XMas"). Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross offer a madcap "Deck Us All With Boston Charlie" (lyrics attributed to Walt Kelly's Pogo). And there's even a Pony Poindexter avant-garde version of "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer." As for a somewhat hipper collection, try Blue Note's Yule Struttin', which shows off two versions of Thelonious Monk's "A Merrier Christmas," as well as trumpeter Chet Baker's 1953 version of "Winter Wonderland."

• [Albums] Various Artists' Jingle Bell Jazz (1990)

• [Albums] Various Artists' Yule Struttin' (1990)

I'm not especially partial to whole albums by individual singers. The songs and the season lend themselves more to group singing. The Swingle Singers and the Manhattan Transfer both have Christmas offerings, but my favorite group Christmas album is Freshmas! by the original Four Freshmen. The problem with most albums by a single singer? More often than not they choose the same dozen or so Xmas tunes as everyone else. The late crooner June Christy, however, had a different approach. Though criticized for her intonation and her inability to scat or swing, Christy had an uncanny talent for uncovering obscure songs by major composers (and even more obscure songs by lesser composers), assembling them into substantial, theme-based albums. Her 1961 Christmas LP, This Time of Year, is no exception. It really is one of the few seasonal-based albums that can be enjoyed well past the designated holidays and, in fact, all year round. The joys and anxieties of the Christmas season are, in Christy’s view, almost a tangent; and her selections (“Seven Shades of Snow,” “Winter’s Got Spring Up Its Sleeve”) veer away from your typical Christmas song.

• [Albums] The Swingle Singers' Christmastime (1968)

• [Albums] Manhattan Transfer's The Christmas Album (1992)

• [Albums] The Four Freshmen's Freshmas! (1992)

• [Albums] June Christy's This Time of Year (1961)

Though not for jazz purists, a real favorite of mine is Stan Kenton's big-band record A Merry Christmas!. This instrumental album features 15 horns, including "mellophoniums," a French horn-like instrument with the bell going straight out. The hit single from the album was a rollicking version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas"; also included is the seldom heard "Once in Royal David's City." Christmas has frequently been associated with brass music, from Salvation Army bands on street corners to brass choirs in churches, and the Kenton horn section exploit this tradition to the fullest. But for a really avant-garde excursion along the same lines, try pianist/composer Carla Bley's Carla’s Christmas Carols, which she orchestrated in 2008 for a small brass choir and her own rhythm section.

Finally, if you really want a whole album by a single singer, I'd recommend the two definitive pop singers of the 20th century, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. Ella has two Christmas albums, one secular (A Swingin' Christmas) and one religious (simply titled Christmas). Sinatra, on the other hand, recorded several Christmas albums, but the best is A Jolly Christmas. Half the songs are secular, the other half religious. It features many songs that Sinatra made famous including his classic "Christmas Waltz."