Have Yourself a Klezmer Little Christmas

With barely five weeks to go before Christmas arrives, it’s time to take a look at some of the seasonal music that will be available for jazz fans. And there’s a lot from which to choose. Here’s a brief selection with a bit of something for almost every jazz taste.

* “Christmas Songs With the Ray Brown Trio” (Telarc). You can always count on veteran bassist Brown to do things in an appealingly musical fashion, whether it’s Christmas carols or straight-ahead jazz. This time out, his trio is augmented on some tracks with guitarist Russell Malone and tenor saxophonist Ralph Moore and a first-rate lineup of vocalists. Highlights include Dee Dee Bridgewater’s sweet “Away in a Manger,” Diana Krall’s quirky “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” Nancy King’s scatting on “Winter Wonderland,” Marlena Shaw and Moore romping through “Jingle Bells” and the trio’s bright renderings of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

* “A Jazz Noel: A Windham Hill Jazz Collection” (Windham Hill). This is pretty much what you can expect to be hearing on your favorite smooth jazz station for the next month. Lots of predictably easygoing performances from Spyro Gyra, Tom Scott, Hiroshima, Chieli Minucci et al. But two infectious items peek through the sometimes too-soothing sounds: Michael Franks’ tropical plea for an “Island Christmas” and Etta James’ blues-inflected “Please Come Home for Christmas.”

* “Al Di Meola: Winter Nights” (Telarc). Guitarist Di Meola’s subtle variations on “Greensleeves,” “Scarborough Fair” and “The First Noel” are supplemented by his own lovely “Winterludes” in this harmonically lush collection. Stretching his talents, Di Meola effectively overdubs his tracks, performing on guitars, percussion, keyboards and harp.

* “Boney’s Funky Christmas” (Warner Bros.). One wonders how saxophonist Boney James expects to generate funk from tracks dominated by programmed drums. But it doesn’t really matter in this laid-back collection of cushiony soft versions of tunes such as “The Christmas Song,” “Jingle Bells,” “Let It Snow” and, climaxing the season, “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve,” sung by Bobby Caldwell. Call it musical wallpaper for the holiday season.

* “Fourplay: Snowbound” (Warner Bros.). It may be smooth jazz, but it’s smooth jazz with an edge. Bob James, Larry Carlton, Harvey Mason and Nathan East are too good to get slogged down in rhythmic pablum. Their renderings of familiar items such as “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and “Amazing Grace,” like their versions of the more unexpected “River” (from Joni Mitchell) and “Snowbound” (from Walter Becker and Donald Fagen), are delivered with consistent musical intelligence and an ineffable sense of inner swing.

* “Jingle Bell Swing” (Columbia Legacy). A collection of gems from the Columbia vaults: Miles Davis’ “Blue Christmas,” Tony Bennett’s “Winter Wonderland,” Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea dueting with “Deck the Halls,” the Duke Ellington Orchestra playing “Jingle Bells” and “Sugar Rum Cherry” (his version of “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”). Most amazing of all: a kind of rap version--from 1954(!)--of “ ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” performed by Art Carney with an unidentified drummer.

* “Oy to the World: A Klezmer Christmas” (Satire Records). OK, klezmer isn’t exactly jazz, but then this isn’t exactly klezmer either. Think of it as Santa meeting the fiddler on the roof--a kind of ecumenical, to say the least, approach to Christmas, conceived and arranged by Chicago jazz pianist-arranger Paul Libman. The slant Libman comes up with on pieces such as “Deck the Halls,” “Joy to the World” and “Good King Wenceslas” is amazing, the joy of Christmas in an Eastern European setting. And his re-harmonization and recasting of this eminently familiar music creates a perspective that is utterly different, yet utterly fascinating. Sometimes hilariously funny--especially in Libman’s one original piece, “Santa Gey Gezunderheit”--sometimes deeply touching (“Carol of the Bells” and “Away in a Manger”), it is the perfect solution for the mixed-religion family that can’t decide whether to play Christmas carols or Hanukkah songs.

Other sounds: Fans of Grover Washington Jr. can cover a good portion of the popular saxophonist’s career with two new compilations. “Grover Washington Jr.: The Ultimate Collection” (Hip-O Records) includes 11 hits from the period between 1971 and 1982, from “Inner City Blues” and “Mister Magic” to “Just the Two of Us” (with Bill Withers) and “The Best Is Yet to Come” (with Patti LaBelle). A more recent period in Washington’s career is encompassed on “Prime Cuts: The Columbia Years” (Columbia), covering the period from 1987 to 1999. The 13 tracks include “Take Five,” “Please Send Me Someone to Love,” “Soulful Strut” and two previously unreleased tracks.

Pat Metheny has composed the score--his fourth soundtrack--for the Warner Bros. film “A Map of the World,” starring Sigourney Weaver, Julianne Moore, David Strathairn and Arliss Howard. Although the picture will not arrive in Los Angeles theaters until December, the album was released this week. According to Metheny, the album represents “the first time in a film scoring situation that I have also actively played the lead musical voice in a score as a player as well as being the composer.”

Smooth Jazz Backstage: The Grammy Foundation (formerly the NARAS Foundation) is sponsoring a series of encounters between students and artists in the third annual Smooth Jazz Christmas Tour. Thursday, saxophonist Dave Koz, pianist David Benoit, guitarist Peter White and singer Brenda Russell were scheduled to meet with Burbank High School students, describing what it takes to put together a major music event. Similar interactive programs, funded by the Grammy Foundation’s program to advance music and arts education, will be presented over the next month as the Christmas tour stops at Chicago, Atlanta, New York and Florida locations.

Riffs: Jazz at Lincoln Center has granted John Lewis, leader of the Modern Jazz Quartet, its annual J@LC Award for Artistic Excellence. Veteran producer-manager-record mogul Norman Granz was also honored with the J@LC Award for Lifetime Achievement. . . . Jazz humorists Bob Dorough and Dave Frishberg’s recent live duo recording for Blue Note at the Jazz Bakery will encompass familiar material as well as several new items and, hopefully, Frishberg’s merciless parody of Dorough’s idiosyncratic style. The release is scheduled for next summer. . . . Blue Note has also signed New Orleans piano stylist Dr. John. The first recording on the label, the good Doctor’s 18th as a leader, will find him in the unexpected setting of a Duke Ellington program, performing what Dr. John describes as “fonkified songs on Duke Elegant.” . . .