Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
Celebrated pianist and composer Donald Vega is getting into the holiday spirit with his new album, “All is Merry and Bright.” Echoing the traditions of holiday albums by Oscar Peterson and Nat King Cole, the 2023 Guggenheim Fellow and Julliard professor presents a vibrant collection of holiday classics and cherished tunes thoughtfully arranged to encapsulate the warmth and joy of the season.
In the Spring of 2024, acclaimed pianist Jeff Babko received a text from friend and fellow Band of Other Brothers member, bassist Will Lee, that simply read, “Band of Other Brothers needs to do a holiday record.” Babko immediately wrote a new piece in about 15 minutes and, from this first seed, the rest of the forest rapidly grew into “This Year at Christmas,” the utterly jubilant take of the Christmas tradition by the jazz supergroup. Saxophonist Jeff Coffin contributed multiple ideas to the mix and added in the collective brilliance of bandmates drummer Keith Carlock and guitarist Nir Felder to create a melting pot of ideas, influences and interpretations that stays blanketed in the familiarity of the holiday season.
Also this week, pianist and arranger George Kahn returns with The Jazz & Blues Revue to light up your celebrations with “Holiday Soiree”; contemporary jazz trumpeter Rick Braun launches into the holiday spirit with “It’s Christmas”; and pianist Ben Paterson’s new album, “Cookin’ in the Couve,” boasts Paterson’s A-team rhythm section of Neal Miner on bass and Aaron Seeber on drums.