Sunday, December 3, 2017

Let it swing, let it swing, let it swing!

By Derrick Bang 

[Web master’s note: Northern California film critic Derrick Bang — still the eldest, youngest and only son of this site’s jazz guru, Ric Bang — has surveyed the holiday jazz scene for 21 years, with lengthy columns that just keep growing. Check out previous columns by clicking on the CHRISTMAS label below.]


It’s another solid year for holiday jazz albums, and the nicest surprise — to paraphrase the Old English rhyme — is that this year’s offerings feature both “something old, something new.”

To be more precise, a trio of “something olds.”

Longtime readers of this annual survey know that three vintage albums have topped my Gotta Have list for decades: classics which, for unknown reasons, have neither been digitized nor re-released since their initial vinyl appearance. I’ve complained about this for years and years; apparently, somebody finally listened.

To a degree.

Jazz pianist Bobby Timmons released Holiday Soul on the Prestige label way back in 1964; jazz organist Don Patterson confused things by using exactly the same title for his Prestige release the same year. Five years later, jazz pianist Duke Pearson produced Merry Ole Soul for Blue Note. All three albums are terrific, although Pearson’s boasts the most inventive arrangements and tastiest jazz chops; his iconic cover of “Sleigh Ride” has been included on at least a dozen holiday jazz compilation albums.

(For the sake of historical accuracy, I should mention that Pearson’s album was issued on CD by Japan’s Toshiba EMI in 2004, with a bonus track — “An Old Fashioned Christmas” — that isn’t available anywhere else. But it’ll cost you a pretty penny, assuming you even can find the blamed thing.)

All three albums once again are readily available — finally! — but with a hitch. In a nod toward current market forces, you have the option of vinyl or streaming ... but not CD. That’ll be fine for vinyl purists who prefer the warmth of LPs, and new-tech streaming fans who aren’t concerned about bitrates and information loss via compression ... but it leaves CD fans out in the cold. Which is a shame.

As for this year’s crop of new releases ... read on!