{"id":3487,"date":"2021-12-03T19:08:11","date_gmt":"2021-12-04T01:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=3487"},"modified":"2021-12-09T12:36:19","modified_gmt":"2021-12-09T18:36:19","slug":"alternative-holiday-playlist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/alternative-holiday-playlist\/","title":{"rendered":"An Alternative Holiday Playlist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Remember the old “Saturday Night Live” parody of the “60 Minutes” Point\/Counterpoint debate, the one remembered for the line “Jane, you ignorant slut”? Things didn’t get that heated on the December 3, 2021, edition of WBGO’s excellent “Jazz United” podcast<\/a>, but co-hosts Nate Chinen and Greg Bryant revealed a definite difference of opinion in their discussion of holiday jazz. Nate is a self-described “Will Farrell elf” where holiday jazz is concerned while Greg Bryant is an unapologetic Grinch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m with Bryant all the way\u2014and maybe a bit further. Growing up in a retail family, December was the most stressful time of the year, certainly at work and inevitably at home, too. And I’ve never quite shaken the sentiment. Most years, all I want for Christmas is for it to be over. So, there will be no sleigh bells jingling, ring-ting-tingling too for me at this time of year, but that needn’t stop the music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve heard some non-holiday jazz and jazz-adjacent music from recent releases that can form an alternative playlist for the holiday averse this December. Maybe you have a few suggestions of your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline Kerrod – “December 1: Trill to Begin”<\/em><\/strong> [17 Days in December (Orenda, 2021)]<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having established my Blue Christmas bona fides, let me cop to a love of the strange, minor-key French no\u00ebls and spooky Christmas songs of the British Isles that seem to have their roots in the pre-Christian winter solstice rites. Harpist Jacqueline Kerrod surely knows this material and the opening selection from her new solo CD, 17 Days in December<\/em> evokes the chill and stillness of the bleak midwinter as effectively as any ancient modal carol might\u2014and also the awe and wonder of Christmas. While you’re listening, check out the recent interview with Kerrod by PostGenre editor Rob Shepherd.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n