ELLA FITZGERALD: ELLA WISHES YOU A SWINGING CHRISTMAS

Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas is a charming, warmly humorous - and yes, swinging - set of classic Christmas tunes. The program is familiar, from bouncy singalongs like "Jingle Bells" to slinky ballads like a downright sexy "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," but Fitzgerald treats each song with exactly as much respect as it deserves. And so Frank Loesser's "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" is wistfully romantic and Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne's "Let It Snow" is kittenishly enticing. As always, Norman Granz's production avoids the schlock that drowns some holiday sets. This is as good as jazz Christmas albums get.

Ella Fitzgerald, voice
Orchestra directed by Frank DeVol

Side A
Jingle Bells
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
What Are You Doing New Year???s Eve?
Sleigh Ride
The Christmas Song

Side B
Good Morning Blues
Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
Winter Wonderland
Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Frosty The Snow Man
White Christmas