It’s time to pack up The Christmas Box again, the small fake tree, strings of indoor lights, ceramic ornaments made by a friend, the snowman candle holder. At the top of the box will be the Christmas music – six CDs and three old cassettes that I play pretty incessantly during the month of December, after which I am glad not to hear them again for another year. They’re all great, but the first one on the list is my all-time favorite…talk about swinging! They are:
- Christmas Cookin’ — Jimmy Smith (Verve)
- The Christmas Song — Nat King Cole (Capitol)
- A Jazz Piano Christmas — 17 fabulous pianists including Tommy Flanagan, John Lewis, and Junior Mance (NPR Classics)
- Christmas with Etta Jones (Muse)
- A Nancy Wilson Christmas (MCG Jazz)
- Guitars for Christmas — Joe Negri (MCG Jazz)
- The Three Tenors Christmas — Carreras, Domingo and Pavorotti (Sony Classical)
- Christmas Classics for Guitar – Steven Pasero (Sugo)
- Christmas Island — Leon Redbone (Private Music)
The poinsettias get to stay in the house, but we’ll have to see how long last as I do not have the greenest thumb where potted plants are concerned. We didn’t hang the icicle lights from the roof this year, so they’re still in the box. Outside, the light-up snowman family and a few light blankets (not strings) must also return to the garage where all will hibernate until next year.