Frankly, after years of Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis, and Brenda Lee, I’m kinda sick of that stuff. Let’s see how some jazzers deal with the holiday season. 

You all know Wynton Marsalis for one thing or another. He did an album called Crescent City Christmas Card way back in 1989. Here’s “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let It Snow!”

Do you know Joe Pass? Suffice it to say he was one of the few to name an album Virtuoso and get away with it. He was one of the jazz greats. Untouchable. Here he gives us “Winter Wonderland.”

Canadian Oscar Peterson is widely recognized as one of the finest musicians to ever grace a keyboard. Here he and his band take on “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” And it swings!

If Dexter Gordon’s name rings a bell, it may just be because he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in the Bertrand Tavernier film Round Midnight. Can Miles Davis say that? I think not. Here’s “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

Last but not least, let us acknowledge that there are people who not only play but sing jazz. And who else to do “Sleigh Ride” but the fabulous Ella Fitzgerald? From Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas.