Have Yourself a Tuneful Little Christmas

At one time, when CHQM was a very different radio station, no Christmas music could be played before December 15. As one of the handful of extant QM alumni, we take this even further, and play no Christmas music until a week before the day. And, of course, there is a shelf of Christmas music one should never play at all.

But now, the time has come, and so, in response to an overwhelming absence of requests, here again is the Pointless Digressions Christmas playlist:

"England's Carol," by the Modern Jazz Quartet. This is actually "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen," but "England's Carol" is what John Lewis and Milt Jackson called it, and we would never question their choice.

"Sleigh Ride," the Leroy Anderson snowy romp played by a quintet led by Art Pepper and Richie Cole, with Roger Kellaway trying to control the sled. Takes you thru some scary, but delightful, curves and over some crazy bumps.

"'Zat You, Santy Claus?" Louis Armstrong. Who better to meet on the hearth on Christmas Eve?

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." The most poignant of Christmas ballads, written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane for Vincente Minnelli's "Meet Me in St. Louis." First sung--incomparably--by Judy Garland, but we're going for the more upbeat approach by Dexter Gordon, while Rosemary Clooney's version finds all the irony in the song.

"Winterludes"--a compilation by the Starbucks people, when they were still doing that. Among the tracks: the little-known Austrian carol "Still, Still, Still," by the Plymouth Music Series Ensemble Singers.

"Simphonies des noels," a collection of Baroque Christmas concerti by Les Violons du Roy. The most familiar composers are Corelli and Charpentier, but there are others from the early 18th century worth discovering.

"Russian Christmas" by the St. Petersburg Chamber Choir, with mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina. A lovely evocation of the moving Orthodox Christmas service.

"Away in a Manger," by George Shearing and Don Thompson. A Brahmsian performance from the 1983 Shearing-Torme album "Top Drawer."

"An Appalachian Christmas"--another anthology, this one under violinist Mark O'Connor's direction. Includes Jane Monheit's charming reading of Mel Torme and Bob Wells's "Christmas Song" and guitarist Sharon Isbin's "Appalachia Waltz."

And, of course, you could make music of your own. That could be best of all.