In search of good Christmas music
Are you in search of good music in this Christmas? you either love it or hate it. Even those who enjoy their irregular yuletide favorite have probably grown a bit tired of it all by now, the result of too many trips to the store, mall or doctor's office. Everywhere you go you're hearing the same KBAY Christmas music mix, ad nauseas.
Christmas music is big business these days. It seems everyone eventually does an album. I'm still waiting for the Rolling Stones to do "Deck the Halls." You can forget about this year's harvest of Christmas CDs, and don't get me started about last year's David Archuleta. The big seller in 2010 is Susan Boyle's "The Gift" which puts the last nail in the coffin of Leonard Cohen's classic "Hallelujah." Or you could always download the un-funky NKOTB "Funky, Funky Christmas." And let us not forget Mariah Carey's "Merry Christmas II you," the follow-up to her multi-platinum selling first Christmas release. But do sales figures have anything to do with it being good? I'm sure the Mariah CD sounds good to Mariah fans, but what about the rest of us?
There are tens of thousands of Christmas CDs available in all musical styles: jazz, rock, blues, rap, dance, R&B, reggae, punk, metal, country, soul, classical, polka, pan flute, etc, etc. So where can you go to find good Christmas music?
• William Hung "Hung for the Holidays" - There's funny bad and just plain bad and although William does straddle that fine line, his rendition of "Silver Bells" will move you to tears. Plus there's a hidden bonus track of him singing Queen's "We are the Champions."
• Diana Krall "Christmas Songs" - Cool jazz vocals with a smoking hot big band.
• Ella Fitzgerald "Wishing you a Swinging Christmas" - Corny at times, but nobody sings, or swings, like Ella.
• Aimee Mann "One More Drifter in the Snow" - Kind of depressing, but in a good way.
• Frank Sinatra "A Jolly Christmas" - It's Frank. Enough said.
• Any compilation CD that contains Dexter Gordon's tenor sax version of "The Christmas Song."
• Etta James "12 Days of Christmas" - Blues legend Etta belts 'em out with a swinging jazz combo. Better than you can imagine.
• Joy for Jazz "A Verve Christmas Collection" - Three legendary jazz singers (Betty Carter, Shirley Horn & Abbey Lincoln) and some amazing musicians. The perfect recording for jazz and non-jazz lovers. Flawless!
• Vince Guaraldi "A Charlie Brown Christmas" - Christmas is about joy and happiness and Linus and Lucy will bring a smile to your face and a tap to your toes.
Christmas music is big business these days. It seems everyone eventually does an album. I'm still waiting for the Rolling Stones to do "Deck the Halls." You can forget about this year's harvest of Christmas CDs, and don't get me started about last year's David Archuleta. The big seller in 2010 is Susan Boyle's "The Gift" which puts the last nail in the coffin of Leonard Cohen's classic "Hallelujah." Or you could always download the un-funky NKOTB "Funky, Funky Christmas." And let us not forget Mariah Carey's "Merry Christmas II you," the follow-up to her multi-platinum selling first Christmas release. But do sales figures have anything to do with it being good? I'm sure the Mariah CD sounds good to Mariah fans, but what about the rest of us?
There are tens of thousands of Christmas CDs available in all musical styles: jazz, rock, blues, rap, dance, R&B, reggae, punk, metal, country, soul, classical, polka, pan flute, etc, etc. So where can you go to find good Christmas music?
• William Hung "Hung for the Holidays" - There's funny bad and just plain bad and although William does straddle that fine line, his rendition of "Silver Bells" will move you to tears. Plus there's a hidden bonus track of him singing Queen's "We are the Champions."
• Diana Krall "Christmas Songs" - Cool jazz vocals with a smoking hot big band.
• Ella Fitzgerald "Wishing you a Swinging Christmas" - Corny at times, but nobody sings, or swings, like Ella.
• Aimee Mann "One More Drifter in the Snow" - Kind of depressing, but in a good way.
• Frank Sinatra "A Jolly Christmas" - It's Frank. Enough said.
• Any compilation CD that contains Dexter Gordon's tenor sax version of "The Christmas Song."
• Etta James "12 Days of Christmas" - Blues legend Etta belts 'em out with a swinging jazz combo. Better than you can imagine.
• Joy for Jazz "A Verve Christmas Collection" - Three legendary jazz singers (Betty Carter, Shirley Horn & Abbey Lincoln) and some amazing musicians. The perfect recording for jazz and non-jazz lovers. Flawless!
• Vince Guaraldi "A Charlie Brown Christmas" - Christmas is about joy and happiness and Linus and Lucy will bring a smile to your face and a tap to your toes.
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