Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
Old and New World traditions meld on “Cool Yule,” by two-time Grammy Award-winning violinist Mads Tolling, a former longtime member of Stanley Clarke’s band and the Turtle Island Quartet. In the spirit of Yule, Mads shares the Christmas celebrations of his youth in Copenhagen, Denmark, blending the authentic customs and sounds of the Nordic countries with the joy and spirit of American jazz. The Mads Men band members joining him on his Christmas journey are the dynamic pianist Colin Hogan, soulful bassist Gary Brown, and the ever-exuberant drummer Eric Garland.

In his brief career so far, the young pianist Isaiah J. Thompson has performed with major artists including Ron Carter, Christian McBride and John Pizzarelli. He won the 2023 American Pianists Award and the Cole Porter Fellowship in Jazz of the American Pianists Association. Since his debut recording with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Isaiah has released multiple recordings as a leader. His latest project takes him back to his childhood and the music that shaped who he is today. “A Guaraldi Holiday” pays tribute to the great jazz pianist and composer Vince Guaraldi. Isaiah focuses not only on Guaraldi’s classic score for “A Charlie Brown Christmas” but also tunes from the Charlie Brown Halloween and Thanksgiving specials as well.

Also this week, pianist/composer Christian Sands’ cinematic approach to popular holiday classics takes center stage with “Christmas Stories”; drummer Jae Sinnett’s Zero to 60 Quartet with special guest Randy Brecker were recorded live last year for “A Swingin’ Christmas”; and pianist/composer/arranger George Burton plumbs a heretofore unexcavated hip factor across seven reinvigorated Yuletide tunes on “The Yule Log.”