My Favorite Christmas Record

I know Christmas has come and gone already, but I don't want to let another year pass before discussing my favorite Christmas record. And anyway, since this one is out of print, if it sounds like something you'd like to add to your collection, it may take some time to track it down.

Right after Thanksgiving, one of my friends posted the following question as her status on Facebook: What is your favorite Christmas song? I was quick to answer, "Dexter Gordon's version of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," but then remembered, with regret, that I hadn't actually heard the song in at least a decade, since I only had it on a mix-tape. Immediately I felt sentimental, and HAD TO find the CD and purchase it. It's on an album called "God Rest Ye Merry Jazzmen."

Lucky for me, there were a few sellers in the Amazon Marketplace peddling "Like New" copies of the CD for a reasonable price. Twenty-five dollars plus shipping is a reasonable price to pay for your favorite Christmas song, right? That's debatable. But in this case, the answer was "Of course."

The CD arrived a few days later, in beautiful condition.

Hearing Dexter Gordon's "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" always puts me in the mood for Christmas. It transports me to a time -- high school -- when Christmas was still relatively stress-free and utterly enjoyable. Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE Christmas, but as an adult, a spouse, a homeowner and a parent, I certainly experience the stress that goes along with the winter holidays. Still, hearing DG launch relaxedly into "Have Yourself . . . " mellows me right out.

I first heard this record on vinyl -- my uncle and aunt bought a copy in the early 80s. Back then I would borrow their LPs and make tapes of the songs -- or albums -- that I liked. My uncle was into jazz mostly, and my aunt liked new wave, so I was exposed to a wider array of music than I could find in my parents' ample but folk and rock-heavy collection. I was a curious listener -- eager to find out what John Klemmer or Lena Lovich sounded like.

God Rest Ye Merry Jazzmen was a keeper (back in the days when "a keeper" was something I copied onto a blank Maxell XL-II-S because I didn't have the cash to actually go out and buy myself a copy). In addition to Dex, there's McCoy Tyner playing "I'll Be Home For Christmas," The Arthur Blythe Quartet doing "The Christmas Song," The Heath Brothers' "Our Little Town," Paquito D'Rivera's "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," and The Wynton Marsalis Quintet's "We Three Kings of Orient Are." It's not a long album, but the six tracks are so low-key and satisfying, it doesn't matter that it's only a half hour long. You can play it again and again.