Seven Christmas Albums for Any Mood
I love Christmastime. I approach holiday music less as a "spirit" and more as a "mindset." I love Christmas music that transcends the cold winter months and is good enough to listen to year-round. I hate a yuletide record that doesn't yearn for the holiday season. Forced, trite, uninspired - pick any adjective to describe the compilations that are merely a notch in an artist's belt (looking at the classic crooners) and play back with no soul or life.
Just in time for Christmas Eve, here are seven records spanning different moods and tastes so you can steal the aux cord from your cousin with confidence.
1. Jazz for the Christmas-adjacent listener
Oscar Peterson is my favorite jazz pianist because of his interpretation and improvisation. The way he lightly interprets a melodic theme before playing away from it and around it resonates with me (see Peterson's rendition of Summertime).
An Oscar Peterson Christmas, put out by Telarc in 1995, is a great Christmas album for the listener who wants something lively without vocals. Straddling a line between jazz and Christmas classics, the album opens with "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.” Peterson makes quick work of the theme before rocketing away with a solo that leaves the North Pole entirely.
Tender favorites like "White Christmas" remain easily recognizable, but enhanced.
2. Something Brassier
Step back into the late '60s with Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass and their dryly titled Christmas Album. Packed with bright, warm arrangements, Alpert's group delights with every tune. There is an ample stream of tropes befitting the era, but I think this adds a pleasant cheekiness. This record also features Alpert's rare vocals on "The Christmas Song" and is one of my favorite renditions.
I own the A&M Records reissue of this album (the US- version from the 1980s). The current version available on streaming services from the Herb Alpert Presents is definitely remastered. After listening to both the streaming and CD releases back and forth, I prefer the CD because it has slightly less high end and sounds more "natural."
3. Modern Sinatra Stylings (a crossover event)
Mark Tremonti's Mark Tremonti Christmas Classics New & Old is the first albumn on the list with prominent vocals. Mark Tremonti delivers an engaged take on ten classics as an unlikely performer. Tremonti is much more well-known for shredding guitar in the bands Creed (who are having an ironic-unironic resurgence) and Alter Bridge. Mark Tremonti delivers a solid presentation of core tunes, but the reason his work truly delights me is the duality of an iconic rock guitarist pursuing a passion for crooning.
4. New rock in an old style
My Christmas day forecast is a high of 67F - not exactly appropriate for a fireside session with Bing Crosby. Instead, I reach for something like Chris Isaak's Everybody Knows its Christmas for two reasons. Firstly, while not Isaak's first holiday record, it did release in 2022 with a number of new songs. Secondly, it's a nice change-up from the jazz or vintage pop without departing too far from the haze of mid-century nostalgia.
5. Country+pop double-header
Who doesn't love a little steel guitar in their holiday playlist? As a huge fan of Kacey Musgraves, I cannot bear to leave this Christmas collection off my list. Featuring a 2014 release of A Very Kacey Christmas and a 2019 live-taping/accompanying soundtrack for The Kacey Musgraves Christmas Show, we are bordering on an entire Christmas cinematic universe here.
This album is another hot-weather pick, and the long list of featured artists (Leon Bridges, Lana Del Rey, Zooey Deschanel, among others) is a testament to Musgraves' stardom and embrace of the made-for-TV Christmas special.
6. Moody, retro soul
Kelley Finnigan's A Joyful Sound is the least Christmas-ey of all the albums on this list. The album spills out from the speakers with a raw soul style and can be at home among a broader playlist.
7. A Louisiana R&B Christmas
Christmas hasn't arrived at my family's house until Aaron Neville's Soulful Christmas opens with its chimes and we hear Neville proclaim "bells will be ringin'". This record is a strong pick in any weather, since it features a cozy, intimate atmosphere on some tunes and two-stepping, Louisiana-themed arrangement on others. This will always be in my rotation, but I am happily starting to make my own traditions with the other albums in this list.
Christmas came early this year for me because I got a couple of Tru-Tone vintage-style LED Christmas lights (which is an aesthetic I've been obsessed with for years), and having these various selections playing in the background helps me set my perfect Christmas atmosphere.
