Artist	Song
Boston Camerata	Nowel, Out of Your Slepe
Boston Camerata	Nova, nova: Aue fitt ex Eva
Boston Camerata	While Shepherds Watched/Sherburne
Virginia Gentlemen	The Christmas Song
Virginia Gentlemen	Twelve Days of Christmas
Virginia Gentlemen	Deck the Halls
Bing Crosby	Do You Hear What I Hear?
Bing Crosby with David Bowie	Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy
The Chieftains	O the Holly She Bears a Berry
The Chieftains	God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
The Chieftains	The Boar's Head
Frank Sinatra	White Christmas
Frank Sinatra	The Christmas Waltz
Jimmy Smith	We Three Kings (of Orient Are)
Duke Ellington	Toot Toot Tootie Toot (Dance of the Reed-Pipes)
Duke Ellington	Peanut Brittle Brigade
James Brown	Let's Make Christmas Mean Something This Year
U2	Driving to Midnight Mass on a Dublin Christmas Eve
Vince Guaraldi	Skating

Comment:

Part one of a two-part Christmas compilation. This disc is meant to be shared with family (including my 80-something father-in-law) and is heavily traditional. Notes on a few tracks:

Boston Camerata: From an all time favorite album Sing We Noë, three carols ranging from Middle English and Latin to 19th century Sacred Harp shaped note singing.
Virginia Gentlemen: From the (cassette) recording of the Virginia Glee Club’s 50th Annual Christmas Concert in 1990, this set comprises live in performance men’s a cappella schmaltz and cheese at its finest.
Bing Crosby with David Bowie: The famous pairing from just a year or so before Crosby’s death; still surprising affecting.
The Chieftains: Set of three more or less traditional carols, played in strong Irish style with bodhrain and pipes, from their Christmas album The Bells of Dublin.
Jimmy Smith: With Wes Montgomery on guitar, the cleanser after a fully orchestral album, this stripped down jazz/blues combo is the right stuff.
Duke Ellington: From the Duke’s translation of The Nutcracker Suite to the big band jazz idiom. Swingin’.
James Brown: A sincere holiday original from the Godfather of Soul.
U2: An early fanclub single, featuring Bono reading the Dylan Thomas poem.
Vince Guaraldi: From the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack, this original says Christmas to me like little else.

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