Christmas Songs (album)

Christmas Jazz Jam is a holiday studio album by Wynton Marsalis, released in 2009 through Compass Productions. Guest musicians on the album include Wessell Anderson on alto saxophone, Vincent Gardner on trombone, Victor Goines, Wycliffe Gordon and Herlin Riley on drums.

In 2009 the album reached peak positions of number six on Billboard Jazz Albums chart, number nine on the Top Holiday Albums chart, and number nineteen on the Top Independent Albums chart. In 2010 the album reached number 125 on the Billboard 200.

Background and composition
Christmas Jazz Jam marked Marsalis' first holiday album in twenty years. For the album, Marsalis assembled a group of ten musicians to perform uncredited arrangements of twelve holiday standards. Following "Mary Had a Baby" are traditional New Orleans jazz-style renditions of "Jingle Bells" (James Pierpont) and "Blue Christmas" (Billy Hayes, Jay W. Johnson).

Reception
Kirk Silsbee of the Los Angeles Times awarded the album three of four stars and called the arrangements "smart yet not ostentatious".

Track listing

 * 1) "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" (John Frederick Coots, Haven Gillespie) – 4:50
 * 2) "Mary Had a Baby" – 4:03
 * 3) "Jingle Bells" (James Pierpont) – 4:43
 * 4) "Blue Christmas" (Billy Hayes, Jay W. Johnson) – 5:24
 * 5) "Go Tell It on the Mountain" (John Wesley Work, Jr.) – 7:08
 * 6) "O Christmas Tree" (Ernst Anschütz) – 7:25
 * 7) "O Little Town of Bethlehem" (Phillips Brooks) – 7:21
 * 8) "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (Johnny Marks) – 6:05
 * 9) "The Christmas Song" (Mel Tormé, Robert Wells) – 5:30
 * 10) "Good King Wenceslas" (Thomas Helmore, John Mason Neale) – 6:49
 * 11) "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (Hugh Martin, Ralph Blane) – 7:08
 * 12) "Greensleeves" (traditional) – 2:05

Charts
In 2009 Christmas Jazz Jam reached peak positions of number six on Billboard Jazz Albums chart, number nine on the Top Holiday Albums chart, and number nineteen on the Top Independent Albums chart. In 2010 the album reached number 125 on the Billboard 200.

Personnel

 * Wessell Anderson – alto saxophone
 * Jessica Barrios – photo stylist
 * Walter Blanding – soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
 * Jason Dale – engineer
 * Vincent Gardner – trombone
 * Justin Gerrish – assistant engineer
 * Victor Goines – clarinet, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
 * Wycliffe Gordon – trombone, tuba
 * Roberta Gumbel – vocals
 * Paul Jarman – design
 * Jedimaster – supervising engineer
 * Jeff Jones – producer
 * Cookie Jordan – make-up
 * Jonathan Kelly – music copyist
 * Joanne Levey – assistant producer
 * Fernando Lodeiro – assistant engineer
 * Evan Manners – assistant engineer
 * Wynton Marsalis – trumpet
 * Shinobu Mitsuoka – assistant engineer
 * Raymond Murphy – production coordination
 * Paul Nedzela – baritone saxophone, bass clarinet
 * Dan Nimmer – piano
 * Herlin Riley – drums
 * Genevieve Stewart – production coordination
 * Meghan Thornton – production coordination
 * Andy Tommasi – audio consultant
 * Don Vappie – banjo, guitar, vocals
 * Reginald Veal – bass
 * Courtney Wagner – stylistic assistant
 * Rob Waymen – photography