Recorded in 1985, The Spirit of Christmas finds Ray Charles performing a variety of holiday favorites with vocal assistance from the Raelettes and an appearance by jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. The ten tracks mix standards and originals, including "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," and the ballad "That Spirit of Christmas," which was featured in the movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. The Spirit of Christmas is perfect background music for any holiday celebration.

Swagger & Stroll Down the Rabbit Hole is the fifth studio album by Swedish avant-garde metal band Diablo Swing Orchestra. It was released on 2 November 2021 via Candlelight Records. The album combines elements of jazz, swing, classical, and progressive rock with just about everything in between. The band push musical boundaries to the extreme with humor, creativity, and a healthy dose of positive aggression. Swagger & Stroll Down the Rabbit Hole is by far their most ambitious undertaking and which pays tribute to all four previous releases. DSO once again teamed up with producer Roberto Laghi (In Flames, Hardcore Superstars) who has become somewhat of the ninth member of the orchestra.

100 Hits Legends is a budget collection featuring tracks from legendary singer Frank Sinatra. Included are a variety of tracks from throughout the iconic jazz and popular singer's career.

Beatles fans love to explain that the key to the successful partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney was their contrasting songwriting personalities – Lennon was the tongue in cheek sardonic wit, McCartney the earnest balladeer. On John Pizzarelli Meets the Beatles, a sharply conceived tribute which sets the duo's classics in a jazz trio with big-band arrangements, the singer/guitarist hits the mark more often when he's taking on the Lennon persona. He approaches "Cant' Buy Me Love," "When I'm 64," and "Get Back" with a playful wink, jumping off his speedy melody lines and the rising brass sections for extended improvisational tradeoffs with pianist Ray Kennedy, and adding colorful touches like scatting and even ad libbing his own lyrical verses based on the originals.

Rob McConnell & the Boss Brass add plenty of spice to this Christmas jazz CD, not only with superb, fresh charts but a few surprising selections. The rich brass and reeds carry the deliberate rendition of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," which segues into a perky Latin-flavored chart of "I'll Be Home for Christmas." "Away in a Manger" is not the commonly heard melody but one first written in 1887, though the music will likely be familiar, even if one doesn't associate it with the well-known lyrics. The lush setting of "The Christmas Song," which likely set Mel Tormé and Bob Wells for life with royalty checks due to its many recordings, showcases the leader's valve trombone and pianist David Restivo. "My Favorite Things," originally written for The Sound of Music, has gradually been transformed into double duty as a Christmas carol; this swinging interpretation works very well. Johnny Mandel, the composer of many memorable melodies, deserves greater recognition for his gorgeous piece "A Christmas Love Song"; this arrangement deserved to help put it on the jazz map. Rob McConnell & the Boss Brass consistently delivered first-rate music throughout their existence, this holiday CD no exception.

Volume Eight of Mercury's partial transfer onto CDs of its mighty Complete Keynote Collection LP set contains some wonderful Red Norvo small combo swing sessions. "Subtle Sextology," "Blues a la Red," "The Man I Love," and "Seven Come Eleven" come from some sextet sessions that sound very much like the sextet 78s that Benny Goodman was putting out around then. That figures, because Norvo participated on many of the BG sides - and so did pianist Teddy Wilson and bassist Slam Stewart; the latter gets plenty of humorous hum-scat time on these sides, too. For "Russian Lullaby," "I Got Rhythm," and "Sing Something Simple," the personnel shuffles (Wilson and Stewart remain) and expands to a septet for which Johnny Thompson writes some creative charts. Norvo plays xylophone on "Lullaby" and delivers unquenchably swinging vibraphone solos at all times…

This pairing of two totally idiosyncratic vocalists acquired legendary status over the decades in which it had been out of print. But the proof is in the listening, and frankly it doesn't represent either artist's best work. There is certainly a powerful, often sexy rapport between the two – Charles in his sweet balladeering mode, Carter with her uniquely keening, drifting high register – and they definitely create sparks in the justly famous rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside." The main problem is in Marty Paich's string/choir arrangements, which too often cross the line into treacle, whereas his charts for big band are far more listenable. Moreover, Charles' sweetness can get a bit cloying, too, although some of the old grit emerges on "Takes Two to Tango." Some reissues add the great, rare B-side to the "Unchain My Heart" single, "But on the Other Hand Baby," and two excellent if unrelated album cuts, "I Never See Maggie Alone" (1964) and "I Like to Hear It Sometime" (1966).

When one thinks of Stan Kenton's 1951 music, it is of his huge Innovations Orchestra which sported a full string section and played very advanced works. However later in the year Kenton cut back to a conventional 19-piece band, a unit that was only together six months and made few studio recordings. This collector's CD features the all-star orchestra broadcasting from the Hollywood Palladium and it is particularly interesting to hear the unit interpreting some of Kenton's earlier hits. With such distinctive soloists as Maynard Ferguson, Shorty Rogers, Milt Bernhart, Art Pepper and Bob Cooper (plus a couple of vocals by Jay Johnson), the highlights include fresh versions of "Machito," "Eager Beaver," "Collaboration," "Painted Rhythm" and "Intermission Riff."

The Danish Radio Big Band joins Curtis Stigers in this wonderful evening of concerts celebrating the legendary Frank Sinatra concerts that took place at The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. This concert recording presents the most popular evergreens from the American songbook classics of the 1950s and 1960s.

This two-CD set (a reissue of an earlier two-LP set plus six previously unreleased numbers) brings back a memorable Carnegie Hall concert that both features and pays tribute to Ella Fitzgerald. The great singer is joined on a few numbers by a Chick Webb reunion band that has a few of the original members (plus an uncredited Panama Francis on drums). Although the musicians do not get much solo space (why wasn't trumpeter Taft Jordan featured?), the music is pleasing. Fitzgerald performs three exquisite duets with pianist Ellis Larkins and then sits out while the Jazz at the Philharmonic All-Stars romp on a few jams and a ballad medley. Trumpeter Roy Eldridge's emotional flights take honors, although tenorman Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and trombonist Al Grey are also in good form. Fitzgerald comes out for the second half of the show and sings 14 numbers with guitarist Joe Pass (including a pair of tender duets) and the Tommy Flanagan trio.

Fresh, innovative indie swing from Vienna. This trio, led by the sparkling and charismatic Marina, engages spectators in her swing, swing, swing world with personal compositions and an original line-up. Racy gypsy guitars, nimble melodies, airy snare drums and Marina‘s uniquely charming voice conflate into a nostalgic cocktail. Marina & The Kats take you on a dreamy journey into the times of Django Reinhart and Cab Calloway, the Divas and the Crooners, the Lindy Hops and Radio Shows, Buick Rivieras and convertibles Cadillac… Originally a three-piece and now a quartet, Marina & The Kats has been one of the most exciting and trailblazing bands in Austria (if not Europe) for years, as anyone who has ever had the chance to catch one of their many high-octane shows will confirm.

Fresh, innovative indie swing from Vienna. Originally a three-piece and now a quartet, Marina & The Kats has been one of the most exciting and trailblazing bands in Austria (if not Europe) for years, as anyone who has ever had the chance to catch one of their many high octane shows will confirm. Their new record "Different" is, on the one hand, as coarse as it is frank, infused with a reassuringly rough and ready swagger. It is also, understandably though, a musical reflection of the last year. A rollercoaster ride of a year that started promisingly with concerts in Israel, Germany and Austria, suddenly came to an abrupt halt. So too did the band as the ingrained drive and passion for the stage hit a metaphorical brick wall, leaving them to come to terms with the fact that life and making music had come to a complete standstill.