Released by Hip-O (Universal's bald attempt to trump Rhino Records) in 1997, What A Wonderful Christmas samples almost entirely from Universal's enormous catalog - mainly from Decca Records, a big player in the fertile 1950's jazz and lounge scene. Paramount among these plums is Peggy Lee's "It's Christmas Time Again", the rare b-side to her 1953 Decca single, "Ring Those Christmas Bells. But, Hip-O also cherry picks gems from labels outside the Universal orbit, including Columbia (Duke Ellington), United Artists (Lena Horne), and RCA (Eartha Kitt). Note also that Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song" (which he coauthored) is a small combo rendition recorded live in 1955 - the earliest of several times he committed his greatest hit to vinyl.

In the end, What A Wonderful Christmas is a flawed masterpiece, but a masterpiece nonetheless - brief, unfocus, but brilliant. Simply, I can't think of a better single-disc set of Christmas jazz. (Note that in 2003, Universal deleted What A Wonderful Christmas, replacing it with an all-but-identical disc entitled 20th Century Masters: The Christmas Collection.)

It's important to note that Louis Armstrong recorded a number of Christmas songs besides the six Decca sides compiled on What A Wonderful Christmas - including a couple during his halcyon days as an up-and-coming coronet whiz. Way back in 1924, he waxed an instrumental called "Santa Claus Blues" with the Red Onion Jazz Babies. The next year, the song became a frenzied vocal showcase for Eva Taylor when Satchmo cut a new version with Clarence Williams' Blue Five. Also in 1925, Armstrong backed blues thrush Bessie Smith on "At The Christmas Ball" (available on Santa Swings). Much later, Satchmo toyed with longtime vocalist Velma Middleton on a live version of "Baby It's Cold Outside" (1951). Then, shortly before his death, he committed to tape perhaps the most charming recitation ever of "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" (1971).

Unlikely as it seems, notoriously low-rent budget label Laserlight compiled most of these songs plus "What A Wonderful World" and a couple of other Decca tracks - on one CD, Christmas Through The Years (1996). Why Hip-O didn't bother to license these tracks for What A Wonderful Christmas is anybody's guess - it would have turned that solid EP into one hell of an LP. But, Laserlight's bare-bones Christmas Through The Years is well worth the five bucks (or less) it'll probably cost you. [top of page]