Baritone crooners sell a lot of Christmas albums. Harry Connick Jr. has a new one this year, Make It Merry. It’s his fourth holiday album. Michael Bublé’s Christmas is platinum several times over. These men are heirs to a long tradition that encompasses Leon Redbone, Paul Anka, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, and even Seth MacFarlane.
This is Christmas music for getting out the tasteful decorations: the white lights, the Waterford crystal, and the special-occasions flatware. Mostly, it’s warm, restrained, and civilized. There’s a little brass, some jazzy embellishment, but nothing that would remind you of Miles Davis on anything mind-altering. The studio musicians aren’t getting a workout. The promise of this music is of getting together with friends and family for the customary holiday thing. The songs ask you to slow down and have a warm drink, maybe enjoy the “tots with their eyes all aglow” one morning, but mostly spend the winter break in flannel pajamas and under the duvet in a romance renewed by an outrageously indulgent gift. And that’s all fine, even traditional. Feast days imply feasting, even if the “merry” during Christmas can often be a little suspect — a suggestion of rowdiness and too much drink.
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