Cue the Jingle Music, Mr. DJ

It's that festive time of year again, and along with the egg nog and gifting there must be some appropriate seasonal music. I'm not a fan of pop and rock artists dashing off original songs that barely sound Christmas-y at all. These often limp tunes sound like everything else the artists do, but with a passing reference to Christmas. If the music doesn't sound holly jolly and the lyrics don't reflect the holiday season, then I don't want it.

While I'm not a major fan of Christmas music, there are some traditional carols and songs that translate quite nicely with the right treatment. For instance, I can listen to Elvis singing anything along these lines. His voice and his delivery suit the season perfectly... tasteful and soulful. I've got his 1957 Christmas Album around here somewhere, and it'll come out soon for some spins on the CD player. There are plenty of standards, like White Christmas, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and I'll Be home for Christmas. And there are some of the religious-oriented tunes, too, which the King approaches with his soothing baritone: O Little Town of Bethlehem, Silent Night, and (There'll Be) Peace in the Valley. You've got the rockin' and the chillin' all in one package. Perfecto!

I also dig the martini-soaked sounds of Christmas With Dino... that's Dean Martin, in case you're too young to know who Dino was. On opening track Let it Snow, it sounds like Dean was already into the sauce... yet he's got such a friendly and expressive voice that you can't help but love it. There's a nice light touch to his renditions of White Christmas, Silver Bells, Winter Wonderland, and Jingle Bells... and more. Fun and nostalgic, even if you were born decades after this music was recorded.

If I could only pick one Christmas album to play, that would be the soundtrack to the 1965 TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas. Performed by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, this light and jazzy music is instantly recognizable to almost everyone on the planet, even if they don't know who did it or where it's from. There are traditional songs as well as originals by pianist Guaraldi, all rendered with reverence and some with a sense of whimsy. The best known are Linus and Lucy, and Skating... and I've always loved Linus' version of Beethoven's famous piano piece Für Elise - not exactly a Christmas tune, but sophisticated and melodic enough to fit the mood.

When I was at a fall record show, I found an LP of Liona Boyd's classical guitar album A Guitar For Christmas. Boyd's mastery of the instrument works amazingly well with the accompaniment on this all-instrumental recording of traditional pieces like Silent Night, Little Drummer Boy, and Away in a Manger. I played that for the first time just the other night, my first taste of Christmas on vinyl. 

Since I get an earful of the brash and brassy renditions of Christmas music all day long at my workplace, it's nice to come home to something more pleasing and definitely more my taste.