Have Yourself a Snazzy Little Christmas

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Tony Bennett released his first collection of Christmas songs, Snowfall, way back in 1968. It’s so good he gave Lou Rawls competition for Snazziest Christmas Collection Ever — but I might not have ever heard of it had he not re-released it 20 years ago. There was one additional track, Tony’s performance of “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” with the Ralph Sharon Trio on the old Jon Stewart Show. That live track is a favorite of mine, but since I played that one last years, let’s go back to ’68 and some of my favorite things with Tony and arranger-conductor Robert Farnon.

Never been able to find out which band was playing, so my guess is that it’s just a bunch of session guys. But like most session players, these guys are good. Tony’s voice was still at its peak, too.

So that’s plenty of breezy holiday goodness for you on this one.