Christmas Jazz Jam


Christmas Jazz Jam is a Christmas album by Wynton Marsalis that was released in 2009 by Compass Productions. Musicians on the album include Wessell Anderson on alto saxophone, Vincent Gardner and Wycliffe Gordon on trombone, Victor Goines on tenor & soprano saxophone and clarinet, and Herlin Riley on drums.

Background and composition

Christmas Jazz Jam marked Marsalis' first holiday album in twenty years. For the album, Marsalis assembled a group of ten musicians to perform uncredited arrangements of twelve holiday standards. Following "Mary Had a Baby" are traditional New Orleans jazz-style renditions of "Jingle Bells" and "Blue Christmas".

Reception

Kirk Silsbee of the Los Angeles Times awarded the album three of four stars and called the arrangements "smart yet not ostentatious".
In 2009, the album reached peak positions of number six on Billboard Jazz Albums chart, number nine on the Top Holiday Albums chart, and number nineteen on the Top Independent Albums chart. In 2010 the album reached number 125 on the [Billboard 200|Billboard 200].

Track listing

  1. "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" – 4:50
  2. "Mary Had a Baby" – 4:03
  3. "Jingle Bells" – 4:43
  4. "Blue Christmas" – 5:24
  5. "Go [Tell It on the Mountain (song)|Go Tell It on the Mountain]" – 7:08
  6. "O Christmas Tree" – 7:25
  7. "O [Little Town of Bethlehem]" – 7:21
  8. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" – 6:05
  9. "The Christmas Song" – 5:30
  10. "Good King Wenceslas" – 6:49
  11. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" – 7:08
  12. "Greensleeves" – 2:05

    Charts

In 2009 Christmas Jazz Jam reached peak positions of number six on Billboard Jazz Albums chart, number nine on the Top Holiday Albums chart, and number nineteen on the Top Independent Albums chart. In 2010 the album reached number 125 on the Billboard 200.
Chart Peak
position
Billboard Jazz Albums6
Billboard Top Holiday Albums9
Billboard Top Independent Albums19
Chart Peak
position
Billboard 200125

Personnel

;Technical
  • Jeff Jones – producer
  • Joanne Levey – assistant producer
  • Jason Dale – engineer
  • Justin Gerrish – assistant engineer
  • Fernando Lodeiro – assistant engineer
  • Evan Manners – assistant engineer
  • Shinobu Mitsuoka – assistant engineer