Chestnuts

roasting on an open fire ...

I love jazz. I stream it at work and play the CDs at home. The car radio would be tuned to it if there was a decent station in range and I’d ask Santa for a satellite subscription, but in truth, I’m not on the road often enough to justify the expense.

Holiday jazz is the best jazz ever. The digital box at home now features a smooth jazz Christmas channel that I play when Ter’s not looking; I know, I know: it’s still November, but I’m finally starting to get in the Yuletide groove so don’t stop me now. The Christmas channel at www.sky.fm plays some smooth stuff, mixed with a bunch of other holiday oddities that I endure in hope of a singularly polished chestnut to make up for the kitsch.

On a whim, I checked into www.jazzradio.com and discovered—as I had hoped—that they’ve added a holiday jazz channel! So now I have all the greats singing the greatest Christmas tunes at the office! Frank and Dino, Ella, Nat, Mel, Harry Connick Jr., der Bingle, and a cornucopia of others – all jazz, no filler!

If I thought I’d died and gone to heaven on discovery, I was assured when the first song I heard was Nat “King” Cole’s O Tannenbaum, sung in German and probably one of my top 10 Yuletide favourites. Nat’s Christmas album gets heavy rotation at home, along with the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack and every Starbucks Christmas disc in the collection (this year's edition already in hand and faaaaaaaabulous!) I have to hand it to Ter – she’s no fan of jazz, but even she will sing along with the Rat Pack if they’re singing Christmas songs. We agree: Sammy Davis Jr’s version of Jingle Bells is the absolute best!

Happy ho-ho-ho to you ...