Not sure how I missed this one--it's been up since November 1--but it's not often a major Jazz legend like Wynton Marsalis offers up a free track like this. Of course, most Jazz fans bought the album when it came out last year. But just in case you didn't--or if you found yourself on the fence--take advantage of this opportunity. "Christmas Jazz Jam" was Marsalis' second Christmas set and he took an entirely different approach than he had on his first such album. His "Crescent City Christmas Card" was a much more spiritual and reverent piece whereas "Christmas Jazz Jam" was precisely that. "O Christmas Tree" is one of those songs Jazz artists love to tackle and rarely do they impress me. The best Jazz cover of that old chestnut remains, in my opinion, Vince Guaraldi's. Marsalis puts a New Orleans Second-Line spin on his "O Christmas Tree" and the results are impressive if not enough so to topple Guaraldi from the top of my Christmas Tree list. In any case, it's free at Bandcamp, and that's not something to be dismissed. Grab it while you can.
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