Search - Various Artists :: Jingle Bell Jazz

Not the original LP program... where's Chico?

Michael St John | St. Paul, MN | 11/26/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."

A Christmas Tradition in My House

John F. Temmerman | Skokie, Il United States | 01/08/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great CD in what's here. Dexter Gordon's solo on have Yourself.... is worth the price, and playable the other 11 months. What's interesting is that there are some outside arrangements (we three kings) along with the straight ahead material.Worth buying!"