Well, will you look at that. It's the fourth night of Hanukkah. We're halfway home. I'm in the mood for a little Hanukkah Jazz, tonight. If I haven't already done so, let me point you to a couple of the classics of Hanukkah Jazz. There are some great individual tracks of Hanukkah Jazz but there are two full albums that I would recommend without reservation. For the lighter touch, you can't do better than Jon Simon's "Hanukkah And All That Jazz" from 1992. It's solo piano and, ordinarily, I wouldn't recommend solo piano to a Jazz fan (as many such records are more New Agey and less Jazz). But Simon's record is completely satisfying to your Jazz head while maintaining the spirit of the occasion. It was probably the first Hanukkah Jazz album I ever owned and is still my favorite. For a more swinging Hanukkah experience, the best of the bunch is from Kenny Ellis. The 2005 album "Hanukkah Swings" does exactly that. It's a great album for those who like that Rat Pack style and certainly the best Hanukkah album of that type I've come across. Kenny's voice sounds a bit more Barry Manilow than Frank Sinatra to me, but that's a minor issue considering the fantastic arrangements and musicianship. Not to slight anyone--there's great Hanukkah Jazz in abundance if you know where to look--but we'll leave it at those two for tonight.
Speaking of the Rat Pack style, Aaron Myers has a new holiday album out, "Snowing In Vegas". Aaron Myers is a world class entertainer. I know that because it says so on his Facebook page. All kidding aside, Myers' singing does recall some of that old Rat Pack magic. Though "Snowing In Vegas" is primarily a Christmas album, Myers did include a song that's meant to cover all the seasonal holidays, "Love All Year", the theme of which is similar to last night's track from Matisyahu and The LeeVees, and this song for the Festival of Lights, "Hanukkah Light". "Snowing In Vegas" is available through CD Baby (or you can buy the Hanukkah track a la carte). My personal favorites from the set are the single, "Love All Year", and the title track (though "Snow Day" and "Angels We Have Heard On High" aren't far behind).
When I see generic "cover art" like this, I tend to run away. Generally, poor cover art portends poor music. And this is about as bad as cover art gets. But, with relatively few Hanukkah releases each year, I'll give about anything a spin. And Leah Finkelstein's "It Must Be Chanukah" is simply gorgeous. The song is done as an old school Jazz standard, with a romantic open and a swinging middle section, and the lyrics are memories of Hanukkahs past. Hanukkah is about family just as is Christmas and, instead of a nursery rhyme about a child's game or a history lesson about Judah Maccabee, it's nice to hear a song that reflects that. "It Must Be Chanukah" is available from Amazon and iTunes.
One more, I think. This one is actually from last year, though I only bought it this year. Again, bad cover art is a real big turnoff for me. And, while this isn't as bad as the one above, it's....not good. But the music is genuine Jazz, it's instrumental, and it's one of the songs you don't hear as often. "Sov Sov Sov" (generally "Sivivon, Sov Sov Sov") is the other Dreidel song. Translated, it means, "Dreidel, Spin Spin Spin". There are actually two versions of the song (and, frankly, two versions of the game). Since one of the symbols on the Dreidel references the "Great Miracle", there's a version for Israel and a version for everywhere else--the difference being whether the great miracle happened there or here. Just some trivia for you. Won't matter with the tune which is from Pittsburgh's "Center Of Life Holiday Sampler" and the Center's own COL Jazz group. Again, the rest of the set is Christmas, but COL Jazz does a great job on "Sov Sov Sov". You'll find this one at Bandcamp.
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