Album Reviews

Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas album is a secular holiday delight sure to please every listener, even atheists and agnostics. Originally released in 1960, the sound here is warm and inviting as a Yule log burning in the fireplace—once you get past the opener "Jingle Bells", which is somewhat brighter, brasher and more in your face than the rest, though having Ella in your face is hardly problematic.

Ella is front and center, closely mic'd and with just a kiss of reverb producing an exciting sense of her in the room. Frank DeVol's sumptuous (but not too rich) swinging arrangements for a dozen Christmas favorites are sensibly hip and without gimmicks, so they don't at all sound dated sixty years after the four New York City summer sessions during which this album was recorded. Imagine Ella singing "Let It Snow" during a hot New York summer. She makes it sound like December. The mix puts the orchestra more hard left/right than you'll hear in modern recordings but there's still plenty of center fill, producing a super-natural sonic picture. De Vol's arrangements can be heard on recordings by Nat "King" Cole, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan and many other singing greats. He knew how to be heard without being intrusive so there's plenty to discover with every listen. On "Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer" Ella playfully goes into a "Tom Dooley" riff acknowledging that year's The Kingston Trio monster hit.

Ella covers "Frosty the Snowman","Sleigh Ride", "White Christmas", "The Christmas Song" and others you'd expect to hear on a set like this and unlike some other such sets that feel it necessary to include one "serious" religious Christmas song, this one does not. On "Frosty the Snowman" she's backed by subtly placed vocal chorus. The album is a musical holiday gift you're sure to enjoy this season and the super sound is guaranteed to light up your system. If you're old enough to remember 1960 the album's "vibe" will take you back there. It did me.

Rich, mellow sound, ear-pleasing arrangements, and of course Ella Fitzgerald's good cheer make this a Christmas season winner you're sure to play often at least until the 25th of December and perhaps beyond. And if this review sounds like advertising copy, so be it! Perfect QRP pressing too.