A Blizzard of Jazz Records for the Holidays

The small ton of holiday music in the record stores this time of year seems to grow with each passing year. Consider these selections for holiday gifts to yourself or others:

* “Santa’s Bag” on Telarc, which leads off with a smoking version of “Let It Snow,” played by bassist Ray Brown’s trio, with pianist Benny Green. Also included are Mel Torme singing “Good King Wenceslas,” Jimmy McGriff and Hank Crawford doing a bluesy “Silver Bells” and a perky “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” with the duo of Dave Brubeck and Gerry Mulligan.

* “A Concord Jazz Christmas” is enlivened by Ken Peplowski’s singing clarinet tone on “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” Peplowski and guitarist Alden making the most out of “Winter Wonderland” and pianist Harris with a typically bluesy “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”

* Other new releases worth noting: the “MoJazz Christmas Album,” with fine tracks by pianist Eric Reed (“Oh Christmas Tree”); “The Joys of Christmas Past” (GRP), which gathers such time-tested numbers as Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World,” Torme’s own take on his classic “The Christmas Song” and Ahmad Jamal’s “Snowfall”; pianist Butch Thompson’s “Yulestride” (Daring), which includes solo piano versions of traditional holiday songs played with jazz flavor; and “The Gift,” New Age pianist Liz Story’s laid-back interpretations of festive numbers.

* Favorites from past years include “Christmas Songs” (Milestone), featuring Chet Baker, Red Garland, Anita O’Day and Coleman Hawkins; “The Christmas Album” (Columbia) by the Manhattan Transfer, with arrangements by Johnny Mandel; and the perennial wonder, Nat “King” Cole’s “The Christmas Song” (Capitol).