The Holly & The Ivy: A Small Gem

A different kind of Christmas movie, no less moving for the nuanced role Christmas actually plays in the story. DVD now available.
by David McGee
 

 
 

When Vintage Becomes Timeless

DAVID IAN did it in 2011 with Vintage Christmas, and does it again in 2012 with Vintage Christmas Wonderland: gather the combo, pare the set list to five songs and deliver a Christmas gem.
by David McGee
 

 

 

The Murky Origins & Everlasting Life of ‘Jingle Bells’

In 1850 JAMES LORD PIERPONT, inspired by one-horse open-sleigh races in his home town, wrote a Thanksgiving ditty for his father's Sunday School class. Thus the humble origin of 'Jingle Bells.'
by David McGee
 

 
 

A Soul Ever More Grateful For What It Knows Of Love

An updated review of a holiday classic: B.B. KING's A CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION OF HOPE. Indeed it is.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Wherein Vintage Becomes Timeless

Marking the occasion of DAVID IAN and his VINTAGE CHRISTMAS TRIO releasing a thoughtful new Yuletide long-player, its fourth in toto.
by David McGee
 

 
 

In Praise of Those Who Keep Christmas Well

Believe the Hype: Wherein we appraise four truly classic Christmas albums + one bonus, by ELLA FITZGERALD, PEGGY LEE, CHARLES BROWN, STAN KENTON & SIDNEY BECHET
by David McGee
 

 

 

Ding Dong, Merrily On High, Indeed!

Returned to print by Real Gone Music, THE THREE SUNS' amazing 1959 seasonal effort, A DING DONG DANDY CHRISTMAS, is lounge exotica run amuck, a genuine Yuletide gem.
by David McGee
 

 
 

What Becomes a Classic Most?

Streisand at her apex in recordings made almost three-and-a-half decades apart. Make no mistake--she’s the classic here, and a classy one at that.
by David McGee
 

 

 

The ‘Quiet Ecstasy’ of Harry Simeone’s ‘Little Drummer Boy’

The story behind THE HARRY SIMEONE CHORALE's classic 'THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY' begins in 1941 with KATHERINE KENNICOTT DAVIS'S 'CAROL OF THE DRUM' and includes a classic Christmas album featuring the oft-covered seasonal favorite.
by David McGee
 

 
 

From The Inkwell: An Animated Christmas

A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS, FROSTY THE SNOWMAN, THE SNOWMAN, MICKEY'S CHRISTMAS CAROL reviewed
by David McGee
 

 

 

Ought It Not To Be a Merry Christmas?

CHRISTMAS DURING THE CIVIL WAR: 'Even with all the sorrow that will forever hang, over so many households; ought it not to be, and is it not, a merry Christmas?'
by David McGee
 

 
 

‘O Holy Night’

Attacked for his opposition to inequality, slavery, injustice and other kinds of oppression, French poet PLACIDE CAPPEAU insinuated his unpopular thoughts into an 1847 poem that became 'O Holy Night'
by David McGee