Kenny Burrell - Have Yourself A Soulful Little Christmas (1966)

Last week, I had someone say to me: "Now that Thanksgiving is over, I give you permission to listen to Christmas music." First off, buddy, I don't need your permission to do anything. I'm a grown ass man and will listen to Christmas music poolside in July if I'm in the mood. Secondly, I was a school band director for ten years and, during each of those years, we started rehearsing Christmas music in October, so I'm well-accustomed to three months of holiday tunes. These days, however, I usually try to wait until at least November 15 before I bust out some Christmas CDs. This year, I lasted until about November 10 before I started spinning holiday discs and this CD had the honor of being the first play of the season.

Truth in advertising here: there's plenty of soulfulness to be found in these cuts. Relaxing yet grooving. Guitarist Burrell gives us 12 Christmas standards - no originals! - with an orchestral accompaniment arranged by Richard Evans; some are big band, others more symphonic, still others are just basic jazz combo. Sadly, no other playing credits are offered. There's quite the variety of styles here, as Barbara J. Gardner writes in the liner notes, "They run the gamut from kiddie tunes to international standards; from popular favorites to poignant blues; from gospels to Latin-flavored statements." And boy howdy does Burrell bring the goods, playing perfectly and seemingly effortlessly in all styles. This album could quite possibly be the most-played Christmas CD at my place since its purchase.

Reviews/ratings:

• CashBox: "Set could see a lot of action in the light of the Yule log."
• Billboard: "soulful and sensitive interpretations"
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★
• Downbeat: ★★★★

Note to self: check out those Ramsey Lewis albums

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart
Peaks on Billboard Christmas album chart: #43 (1966), #21 (1967), #15 (1968)

December 7, 1968

Tracks: All twelve tracks are good and there's enough variety that you can just set it and forget it. For my top pick there's a tie between the organ-rich gospel grooves of the spiritual Go Where I Send Thee and what may be my all-time favorite version of The Little Drummer Boy. There's also a slow burn combo take on White Christmas, a pastoral Away In A Manger, a bluesy Silent Night, an abbreviated play on Twelve Days Of Christmas (who has time to run all those verses down and still have space to knock out some great solos?), and a swingin' version of My Favorite Things - not really a holiday tune but it seems to have entered the canon and it's a great addition here. The set ends with a subdued Merry Christmas Baby which gives Burrell to stretch out with some great blues solos.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, other than what I wrote above. If I had listened to this album in 1966, I would no doubt have been the hippest infant in West Texas.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Midnight Blue (1963)