For Times Gone By

by | Dec 31, 2025 | Big Band, Holiday, Vocal

More than once I have said that it’s okay to look back, just be careful not to stare. Remember we are celebrating “out with the old” and “in with the new.” To set the mood for The Holiday, I’ve brought Days of Auld Lang Syne forward from our Jazz Scene Podcast page. It features everything from an ear toward the great dance bands of the 30s and 40s, to my 1989 interview with Fay Wray –– the lady who did all that screaming in the classic horror film “King Kong” –– and, at last, I have a reasonable explanation of just what the heck Auld Lang Syne actually means. All this is to offer my sincerest wishes for a most Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year!

Days Of Auld Lang Syne

by Fred Masey | Jazz Scene Podcast

For Times Square New Years Eve ball drop watchers I’ve assembled a montage of ‘drops’ from years gone by, right through the new millennium. Next, Kenny G returns with Auld Lang Syne as the background for an historical retrospective, to which I’ve added an opening door to infinity, reminding us that somewhere out in space, all the material ever broadcast is still hanging around!

It’s Christmas!

by | Dec 23, 2025 | Audio, Soundtrack, Video

Arguably, the greatest Christmas movie ever made is Irving Berlin’s star-studded White Christmas.  The video (above) is the grand finale from that motion picture, guaranteed to catapult you into the Christmas spirit … in case you’re not already there.  Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney appeared in full-throated splendor, while Vera Ellen––whose real strength was in her dancing––had her singing dubbed by a young lady named Trudy Stevens; the only exception was the “Sisters” duet, where Rosie Clooney sang both parts! Below (left) is Snow, another Irving Berlin tune specially written for the picture. Below (right) is the classic restaurant scene from A Christmas Story, where Ralphie and his family discover ‘Chinese turkey.’

Just (below), I have brought The Christmas Show forward from our Jazz Scene Podcast page … featuring songs for the season by Maynard Ferguson, Tony Bennett, The Swingle Singers, Mel Torme, Count Basie, The Gene Harris Quartet, Lou Rawls, The Manhattan Transfer, Kenny G, Billy Taylor, Carol Sloan, plus a few of my own thoughts about the magic of Christmas. Finally, at the (bottom) Kenny G takes a stroll down memory lane with clips from five of the best traditional holiday movies ever. There’s good reason they are viewed continually by millions every year … nothing compares, period! With Hollywood icons like Burgess Meredith and Jimmy Stewart in the background of Kenny’s gently nostalgic performance of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, the experience is nothing less than pure emotional magic.

The Christmas Show

by Fred Masey | Jazz Scene Podcast

Admittedly, except for “The Christmas Show,” much of what you hear here may not be jazz … but IT’S CHRISTMAS! May you enjoy every minute of this uniquely wonnnderful time of year, and have the Merriest of all Christmases with the ones you love!

Merry Jazzmas!

by | Dec 18, 2025 | Holiday, Lighter Side, Vocal Group

At the (top) it’s Merry Christmas Charlie Brown! Here’s a medley of tunes from the beloved Charlie Brown Christmas Special, with accompanying video sequences and David Benoit’s magical Christmas fingers in solo performance! In the (middle), it’s a live performance of Snowfall from their best selling “The Christmas Concert” DVD. It’s a rich blend of mellow harmonies that smoothly combine all four voices into one as only The Manhattan Transfer can do. On the (bottom) the amazing Joey Alexander dazzles us with his piano prowess playing My Favorite Things, back when he was just 12!

A Marsalis-Torme Christmas

by | Dec 12, 2025 | Big Band, Holiday, Vocal

Jingle Bells is one of the most commonly sung and widely recognized Christmas songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont and published in 1857 as “The One Horse Open Sleigh.” It was originally thought to be a drinking song, and had no real connection to Christmas until it eventually became associated with winter and Christmas in the 1860s and 1870s. Wynton Marsalis and his Jazz Big Band (above), with one of the thousands of recordings of the song, gives it the most powerful treatment you’re ever likely to hear … horses at a full gallop! The Christmas Song (below), also known as “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”, was written by 19-year-old Mel Tormé and 22-year-old Bob Wells on a scorching summer day in Los Angeles as a means of keeping cool (much like the composition of “White Christmas”). Ironically, while Torme wrote the music, it was Nat ‘King’ Cole who had, not one, but three popular recordings, one of which resides in the Library of Congress!

The New York Voices

by | Dec 5, 2025 | Big Band, Vocal Group

Originally formed in 1988 at Ithaca College, the Grammy Award winning New York Voices became one of the premier jazz vocal groups of the 1990s. Their repertoire includes bop in the vocalise tradition, plus more contemporary material from both jazz and pop genres. Renowned for their excellence, particularly in jazz, they have learned from the best. Like the great groups that came before, such as Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, Singers Unlimited, Manhattan Transfer and, of course, The Four Freshmen, The Voices have taken their musical form to exciting new levels.  From first listen, I couldn’t resist adding some of my own visual animation to their marvelous rendition of Let It Snow (top) –– a Sammy Cahn / Jule Styne tune –– ironically written in Hollywood, California during a particularly hot spell in July of 1945!

(In the middle) The New York Voices team with Till Brönner on his 2007 Christmas album, and a classic caution to kids of all ages that Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Finally (bottom) it’s a Holiday for Strings … a live performance with the Helsinki Swing Big Band, on one of their many visits to Finland (this performance could be as recent as December 2023), where they are always received with great acclaim.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

by New York Voices | Bronner Christmas Album