Customer Rating: 
Summary: Jazz for Christmas
Comment: This has been my #1 favorite jazz/blues Christmas CD for many years (and I've collected quite a few). Sorry to disagree with the last person but it is definitely not "smooth jazz". Roland Kirk never played a note of "smooth jazz" in his life. His "We Free Kings" is about the wildest rendition of a Christmas song that I've ever heard and I still can't sit still whenever I hear it. This one of those albums that you can hear through many times and find new pleasures every time. As others have said, it holds a wide variety and each recording is great in its own way. Merry Christmas to one and all!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Jazzy Little Christmas
Comment: I recommend this to anyone that likes smooth jazz and wants mood music for Christmas gatherings. It helps make Christmas parties seem more festive.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Smooth, nostalgic
Comment: I have been listening to this cd every Christmas since my parents first got it when in 1996 I was 10 years old. I could never tire of the smooth, warm jazz. It is the perfect soundtrack for a snowy evening by the fire and lit tree, cuddled under a warm blanket with a cup of hot cocoa.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Holiday music by some of the legends of American jazz.
Comment: There's something for everyone on this wonderfully eclectic recording, which ranges from Oscar Peterson's almost lullaby-like piano on "A Child is Born" to Bill Evans's jazzy piano improvisations (overdubbed) on "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," and Sister Rosetta Tharpe's "O, Little Town of Bethlehem," a full-out, hand-clapping, rocking and stomping Gospel song. Containing both vocals and instrumentals, with arrangements which vary from softly sweet to full-out wailing, this CD is full of delightful surprises to keep the Christmas repertoire fresh.
Three of the songs here feature Ella Fitzgerald. "The Secret of Christmas" and "White Christmas," both of which she sings "pure," are soft, slow ballads filled with sweetness, while "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," with its quick beat, provides a jazzy close-out for the album. Dinah Washington's "Ole Santa" and "Silent Night" take the opposite tack from Ella, as she sings with strength and verve--and absolutely no sweetness! Billie Holiday's "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm," not exactly a Christmas song, features solos by the great Benny Carter on clarinet and Sweets Edison on muted trumpet.
Roland Kirk's "We Free Kings," the most highly improvised song on the album, features Kirk on flute and wailing sax, accompanied by an insistent drumbeat. And my favorite--Jimmy Smith's "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" is the greatest version of this song I've ever heard, opening with jazz tuba and drums (and sounding like giants walking), then introducing trumpets and a wonderful Smith organ solo, which soars into the stratosphere. A terrific album for the jazz lover at Christmas time, this CD showcases some of the pioneers of American jazz. Mary Whipple
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Christmas CD
Comment: This is one of our favorite Christmas CDs year after year. It's a great collection of some classic performances.
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