Jingle Bell Jazz

Various Artists - Jazz, Various Artists - Miscellaneous - Holiday

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: October 17, 1990
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000002659
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #63,488 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Dexter Gordon Quartet

2. I'll Be Home for Christmas - McCoy Tyner

3. Christmas Song

4. Our Little Town - Heath Brothers

5. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Paquito d'Rivera

6. We Three Kings of Orient Are - Wynton Marsalis Septet

7. Jingle Bells - Duke Ellington

8. White Christmas - Lionel Hampton

9. Christmas Song - Carmen McRae

10. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Pony Poindexter

11. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town - Dave Brubeck Quartet

12. Deck Us All With Boston Charlie - Ike Isaacs Trio

13. Blue Xmas (To Whom It May Concern) - Miles Davis

14. Deck the Halls - Herbie Hancock

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the Original, December 22, 2001

By	Mr. M.J. Hatch (San Diego) - See all my reviews

If you are looking for the Original (Columbia "CS8693") Jingle Bell Jazz (cover has Red Santa Sack full of gifts)issued October 17, 1962, THIS IS NOT IT. The reissue ("PC 36803")of Jingle Bell Jazz (cover has Snow filled N.Y. streets with Taxi Cabs)in September, 1973 is GREAT. This latest "reissue" IS NOT. If you are expecting either of the "Original" issues on CD, you will be greatly offended. There is no Chico Hamilton, no Paul Horn. In 1985, CBS stupidly combined Jingle Bell Jazz with another Columbia recording called God Rest Ye Merry Jazzmen and the sad result is THIS CD. Do youself a favor, secure the Vinyl Original and burn your own CD. "You'll be glad you did." (...) I'd sell you my CD but it was so sorry, I couldn't sell it, I GAVE it away.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the original LP program... where's Chico?, November 26, 2001

By	Michael St John (St. Paul, MN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I take a star off just because those who have owned the original JINGLE BELL JAZZ on CBS (w/ the taxicabs by the snowy street corner shown on the cover) may be disappointed to discover that the CD issue does not include several cuts from the old album. To make room for new cuts by Dexter Gordon, McCoy Tyner, Arthur Blythe, the Heath Brothers, Paquito D'Rivera, and Wynton Marsalis, the label left out Chico Hamilton's wonderful "Winter Wonderland," Paul Horn's "We Three Kings," The Manhattan Jazz All-Stars' "If I Were a Bell," and Marlowe Morris' "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree."

Nothing against Dex, McCoy, and the Heath Brothers, but the absence of the Hamilton and Horn cuts in particular are a real loss to the collection. Chico's arrangement of "Winter Wonderland" perfectly captures that hushed, peaceful feeling you get when walking along a snowy hillside on a cold, clear night. It's beautiful, and I can hardly imagine going through the season without hearing it. Why is it missing here?? The track time on this CD is just short of 62 minutes; Columbia should have had room at least to keep Hamilton and Horn. And if it meant trimming "Blue Xmas" or Wynton (he has his own Christmas album, anyway) to make room for "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"--so be it!

Anyway, what's here is still pretty nice. If you got this, JINGLE BELL JAM on Rhino, and Ellington's THREE SUITES (featuring his arrangement of "The Nutcracker Suite"), you'd have an excellent selection of Holiday Jazz. I hope that Columbia will reissue an expanded version of this album, with Chico Hamilton, soon. Meanwhile, look through cassette racks and used LP bins, and the original set might turn up.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars No Chico Hamilton, But..., November 19, 2003

By	David J. Kish "Dave Kish" (Martha's Vineyard MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As some of the other reviewers have stated, there are indeed many unfortunate omissions on this cd that were included on the original vinyl release. Hopefully Sony will see fit in the near future to reissue the recordings as they originally appeared. Having said that, I will make two comments. First of all, Chico Hamilton's "Winter Wonderland" is indeed available on cd. It is on a Sony Music Special Products cd called simply "Jazz Christmas". It is available from amazon, and it's worth the search, even it if it is very short in length, and has tawdry packaging. To my knowledge, this is the only way to get the song on cd. Secondly, this is still a wonderful cd, and one I seem to never tire of hearing. McCoy Tyner's solo piano rendition of "I'll Be Home For Christmas" is beautiful and reflective; Duke Ellington's raucous version of "Jingle Bells" is loads of fun; Carmen McRae's touching version of "The Christmas Song" still conjures up images of light snowfall with the faint glow of candles in the background; Dave Brubeck's midtempo rendition of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" has some wonderfully swinging alto work from the great Paul Desmond; Dexter Gordon is bluesy and swinging on "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas". All in all a fine and diverse Christmas cd with plenty of moods and melodies. Always worth hearing and worth owning despite the omissions.