LOL. The vibes player is me on my old Yamaha played through a tube amp. That guy comes cheap. Very cheap...

Thanks for posting, Jazzwee. My Favorite Things started showing up as a Christmas tune on jazz and pop recordings in 1964, and has been on countless records since then. The Supremes were the first big name to do it, but I think Kenny Burrell was the first big jazz player to record it as a Christmas number.

Anyway, your trio version is inspirational, and sits there in the pocket to enjoy without being nuts like so many feel obliged to do. Just a wonderful trio sound.

Here's another arrangement of Have yourself a merry little Christmas by Melody Bober. Lots of great music so far!


https://www.box.com/s/hcv98anrkyli3v7pgf8n

jazzwee, I finally got around to listening to White Christmas. This is another excellent performance. Very enjoyable.

candlelightpiano, your Home for Christmas is an emotional performance. Very nice. Merry Christmas!

Greener, nice job with the medley. I play both pieces every year, but I have never considered a medley of them. It works.

kenjazz, your O Tannenbaum sounds amazing. A very professional sounding performance. I am impressed.

jazzwee, your take on My Favorite Things is another great listen.

ladypayne, your Merry Little Christmas is quite fun. Melody Bober does some really nice arrangements.

I finally got some time to listen to the performances in this thread. While I haven’t listened to every one of the multiples, I’ve listened to at least one of the performances of everyone who's posted thus far. I think the following represents the latter, but if I missed anyone, I know I’ll be doing more listening between now and New Years, and will pick up any missed stitches between now and then.

Greener and Andy Platt – I was delighted to see that you both had selected non-classical pieces for a change, and astounded by how good your modern stylings of them were. Maybe there’s something to be said for being classically trained after all!

LadyPayne and Ben – Both of your integrations of your playing with other instruments sounds good enough to be featured on a popular music label’s professional cd. I envy your being able to do this so well. Ben, I can’t believe you could produce something so smooth after only six months on keyboard, and LP, I thought your playing on Have Yourself surpassed anything I've heard from you before as did your arranging on What Child is This.

Kenjazz and Jazzwee - Between all the selections of great Christmas jazz you two have provided here, I won’t even bother to pull out my old Christmas albums this year. Ken, what a pro you’ve become in five short years, and Jazzwee, I’ll definitely be putting both of your vocal accompaniment pieces into a jazz styling accompaniment file for further study!

Candlelightpiano and TJ – This is my kind of Christmas music, played my kind of way. TJ, I think I remember you playing this before and thinking how you could make the most of a simple arrangement. CLP, I don’t remember hearing you play before, but I will now--great arrangement done very well!

Bill M - In all the zillions of times I’ve heard this song, I don’t ever recall hearing an intro to it. Thanks for providing that and for your warm expressive voice and accompaniment. Come Christmas Eve, I know the latter will have me feeling like throwing another log on the fire.

Before the acts get any harder to follow (as if that were possible), I thought it might be wise to post my own holiday selection. This is a recording of my vocal recital performance, which was held last night at a beautiful senior living facility. I play the accompaniment to Blue Christmas from a Hal Leonard collection of Christmas hits. The voice you hear first is my singing teacher’s introducing me. Later one extra enthusiastic audience member sings along with me, but not too loudly and pretty much on key. Since I usually play by ear or memorize my pieces, the hardest challenge for me with this was syncing my page turning so as not to interrupt the flow of the music.

https://www.box.com/s/qq3eciqbw9rhbytvqehb

Lots of activity since I was here a few days ago.

MANY, MANY THANKS:

Ladypayne - for the links and info on Magix. I'd really like to learn to make slide videos like you do.

Jazzwee - thanks for the compliments. Loved MY FAVORITE THINGS. Your unrehearsed, spontaneous performance is awesome. It sounds so free and lifts my spirits.

TX-Dennis and Starr Keys - so glad you enjoyed my performance. Thank you. I'll be sticking around here. You guys make this forum a really fun place to be.

Kenjazz - I enjoyed your O Tannenbaum. You've really become very good at jazz piano since you got into it. I'm messing around with it, too and have incorporated some jazz elements into my play but I'm still a beginner at it so it's great to get to listen to some great jazzy numbers here and pick up a tip or two.

Thanks for posting this thread, Mr. S.H.! I'm really enjoying all the great holiday songs here. Nice work everyone!


BillM: I loved your "White Christmas - the intro & everything was really beautiful.

LadyPayne: What Child is This was terrific - love your video arrangement, too.

Starr Keys: That was just gorgeous.. both your singing and accompaniment!

Well, here's a little tune from "A Charlie Brown Christmas". Hope you enjoy.

Christmas Time is Here (Vince Guaraldi)

Well, I couldn't stop myself from doing one more. Silent Night is not allowed at our family gatherings because it associated with a tragic family event. I had to record this on solo piano in one shot under cover of darkness. I think it is the most beautiful of Christmas songs, though, so I love to play it. But I can only share it with you...

Silent Night

Merry Christmas

Well, it's been raining for two days + in Northern California, and it came down like cats and dogs for most of today. I couldn't ask for better music to listen to on a day like this.

Elssa: Talk about gorgeous! I hear the Eddie Duchin influence here and I love it!

Ken: I love listening to this style of jazz on a rainy day. I thought I'd heard Silent Night played every possible way, but yours was like a mirror of just this moment in time and reflected perfectly my present mood.

Thanks, Starr Keys! Well, I guess my all-time favorites are Eddie Duchin and George Shearing.

Your singing is angelic!

Hope y'all aren't sick of Christmas music yet Here is Holy Night which I am actually quite proud of despite the speed (nerves) and a few misteps. Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/Ft0oRkKE9Kw