[Web master’s note: Northern California film critic Derrick Bang — still the eldest, youngest and only son of this site’s jazz guru, Ric Bang — has surveyed the holiday jazz scene for 21 years, with lengthy columns that just keep growing. Check out previous columns by clicking on the CHRISTMAS label below.]
It’s another solid year for holiday jazz albums, and
the nicest surprise — to paraphrase the Old English rhyme — is that this year’s
offerings feature both “something
old, something new.”
To be more precise, a trio of “something olds.”
Longtime readers of this annual survey know that
three vintage albums have topped my Gotta Have list for decades: classics
which, for unknown reasons, have neither been digitized nor re-released since
their initial vinyl appearance. I’ve complained about this for years and years;
apparently, somebody finally listened.
To a degree.
Jazz pianist Bobby Timmons released Holiday Soul on the Prestige label way
back in 1964; jazz organist Don Patterson confused things by using exactly the
same title for his Prestige release
the same year. Five years later, jazz pianist Duke Pearson produced Merry Ole Soul for Blue Note. All three
albums are terrific, although Pearson’s boasts the most inventive arrangements
and tastiest jazz chops; his iconic cover of “Sleigh Ride” has been included on
at least a dozen holiday jazz compilation albums.
(For the sake of historical accuracy, I should
mention that Pearson’s album was issued on CD by Japan’s Toshiba EMI in 2004,
with a bonus track — “An Old Fashioned Christmas” — that isn’t available
anywhere else. But it’ll cost you a pretty penny, assuming you even can find the blamed thing.)
All three albums once again are readily available — finally! — but with a hitch. In a nod
toward current market forces, you have the option of vinyl or streaming ... but
not CD. That’ll be fine for vinyl purists who prefer the warmth of LPs, and
new-tech streaming fans who aren’t concerned about bitrates and information
loss via compression ... but it leaves CD fans out in the cold. Which is a
shame.
As for this year’s crop of new releases ... read on!
