More harking and jingling and decking

My Christmas music roundup entries wouldn't be complete without mention of a few more beloved CDs, starting with George Winston's December, the granddaddy of the entire New Age music movement. A beautiful, spare recording of solo piano pieces which evoke not just Christmas and December but all of winter, it established the mold for dozens, if not hundreds, of other New Age pianists who continue to ply their trade to this day. 20 years later, this album still sounds fresh. It's not lush or sappy, but sharp and crisp with interesting arrangements and moments of almost hypnotic beauty. His versions of Pachelbel's Canon and "Carol of the Bells" are second to none. He also does "Some Children See Him," a beautiful hymnlike song by Alfred Bart, best known in an equally gorgeous version by Tennessee Ernie Ford on the album The Star Carol.

I have a couple of albums of Christmas music played in the Baroque style; the one I grabbed on the way out the door this morning is Christmas Goes Baroque by the CSSR State Philharmonic Orchestra. It's on Naxos, and my understanding is that there may not really be such a body as the CSSR State Philharmonic Orchestra, that some of their albums are recorded by "house" orchestras under various names. Still, these are lovely arrangements of carols in the Baroque style, which means they all sound like Bach and Handel. I own Christmas CDs by Barbra Streisand, Bing Crosby, the Andrews Sisters, Perry Como, and the Roches. Some of my favorite contemporary holiday songs are "Step Into Christmas" by Elton John, "Happy Xmas" by John Lennon, the Eurythmics take on "Winter Wonderland," and the Roches' fun version of "Sleigh Ride" with its robust male "Yoo-hoo!, Yoo-hoo!" I am most assuredly not a Mariah Carey fan, but I don't mind her "All I Want for Christmas Is You." I bought a Christmas remix album a few years back and didn't care for most of it, but I do enjoy the Beef Wellington remix of Bing Crosby's "Holiday Inn" and Mocean Worker's mix of a brass version of "Joy to the World." I feel one more Christmas blog entry in my bones, maybe tomorrow.