A Marsalis-Torme Christmas

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!