Pianist Cedar Walton’s jazz arrangements of twelve standard holiday songs with lengthy solos by Walton himself as well as George Bohanon on trombone and Red Holloway on tenor saxophone. Following its release on October 13, 1998 the album was given 3 and a half stars out of 5 by Rolling Stone Magazine and reached a peak position of number five on Billboard’s Top Blues Albums chart. Over 62 minutes in duration, originally released on the now defunct Grammy award winning American independent record label Private Music.
Track listing:
“Winter Wonderland” (Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith) – 4:26
“Jingle Bells” (James Pierpont) – 5:26
“This Time of Year” (Jesse Hollis, Cliff Owens) – 5:47
“Merry Christmas, Baby” (Lou Baxter, Johnny Moore) – 6:10
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin) – 4:45
“Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” (John Frederick Coots, Haven Gillespie) – 6:22
“White Christmas” (Irving Berlin) – 5:52
“Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” (Mel Tormé, Robert Wells) – 4:23
“Little Drummer Boy” (Katherine Kennicott Davis, Henry Onorati, Harry Simeone) – 4:59
“Silent Night” (Franz Xaver Gruber, Joseph Mohr) – 4:49
“Joy to the World” (George Frideric Handel, Lowell Mason, Isaac Watts) – 5:30
“O Holy Night” (Adolphe Adam, John Sullivan Dwight) – 4:50
