25 Christmas CD’s in 25 Days - Day 9
I have a great love of music from and by New Orleans artists. It began when I was a kid and my parents took us on our first weekend mini-vacation there. I was exposed to several types of music that very first trip and was mesmerized immediately. I’ve been addicted to the music ever since. Putumayo is no stranger to publishing New Orleans compilation CDs so I was pleased to discover this outstanding collection of Christmas music. The great Big Al Carson belts out an inspired “Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town” backed by the rolicking Lars Edegran & His Santa Claus Revelers. Ingrid Lucia covers one of my favorite Christmas tunes “‘Zat You, Santa Claus?” which is probably best remembered as performed by Louis Armstrong as well as the Christmas video by Buster Poindexter (the alter ego of musician/actor David Johansen). It remains faithful to the original but Lucia’s rendition is definitely more sultry than either Armstrong’s or Poindexter’s. Banu Gibson belts out a cool “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” a la the swing band era complete with orchestration by The New Orleans Hot Jazz. The legendary Don Vappie takes the classic r&b yuletide tune “Please Come Home For Christmas” and makes it an uptempo jazz romp. Vappie takes a great song so familiar and turns it into something most unique and fresh. And of course, when Santa does come to New Orleans, it can never be anything normal. Of course not! Santa has to have his own second line parade and the New Birth Brass Band offers up “Santa’s Second Line” for the occasion. Overall, this is a fantastic compilation of New Orleans Christmas music well suited for the season.
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