Track Listing

1. Jingle Bells
2. Let It Snow
3. The Christmas Song
4. Winter Wonderland
5. I'll Be Home For Christmas
6. Christmas Time Is Here
7. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
8. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
9. White Christmas
10. What Are You Doing New Year's Eve
11. Sleigh Ride
12. Count Your Blessings Instead Of Sheep

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2590 in Music
• Released on: 2005-11-14
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds
• Running time: 45 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
As the song goes, "Merry Christmas" has already "been said many times, many ways". Diana Krall's Christmas Songs is a worthy--though not particularly unique--addition to the holiday catalogue. Krall excels with an approach mastered long ago: elegant delivery that gives extra polish to a very familiar lineup. Some might find her style frosty at times, but that will come as a relief to those who want their carolers to cut through some of the holiday treacle and create a festive, yet grown-up vibe. And Krall does show off her playful side with little, personal touches. In "Winter Wonderland" she promises to "frolic and play the Canadian way", which should draw smiles from her native land. Elsewhere, she ends "Jingle Bells" with the girlishly giddy statement, "I'm just crazy about horses". Well…can't argue with that. --Leah Weathersby

CD Description
On 2005's CHRISTMAS SONGS, Diana Krall applies her sultry vocals and nuanced piano lines to a strong set of holiday classics. In addition to turning in a stirring performance of "The Christmas Song" that would make Nat "King" Cole proud, Krall eases into a swaying version of "Winter Wonderland" anda lush rendition of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". With its dynamic arrangements and pitch-perfect mix of pop and jazz, this album stands alongside other timeless Yuletide outings.

Customer Reviews

Have yourself a Jazzy little Christmas
Diana Krall has delivered an album full of classics. Christmas classics, that is. This album does pretty much exactly what it says on the box, yet it does it with a style and elegance that is not usually afforded to these types of projects. Diana's trademark jazzy style is present throughout this record and her interpretations of such greats as Jingle Bells, Let It Snow and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas transcend any 'novelty song' status and sound genuinely great. In fact, the record as a whole never slips into the purely novelty category, due to the wonderful arrangements, respect and enthusiasm Diana shows these classic songs. This will appeal to the hardcore Diana Krall fans yet it should also be received by a much larger audience. You simply won't find a classier, more appealing Christmas album this year.

Buy a copy and have yourself a merry little Christmas.

Some seasonal cheer that’s distinctively Diana.
I’m pleased that she has reverted to more classic jazz than her recent offerings which I haven’t enjoyed as much. I heard this in a shop before I realised it was Diana Krall and thought it was an upbeat must buy. This is very much what you expect from a Krall Christmas album. 12 Beautifully orchestrated versions of classic Christmas songs, not always my all-time-favourite versions. For example Ella’s “Sleighride” is hard to beat, but Diana’s version is in her own style. As for “What are you Doing New Years Eve”, I think Harry Connick Jr’s version is far more subtle and therefore superior. “Christmas Time is Here” is a stocking filler. But if you’re fond of Diana and want a new seasonal album to add to your collection you can’t go far wrong.

A touch of Christmas elegance
The elegant, silken voice and piano playing of Diana Krall have been with us now for ten years, so I suppose we were overdue this album of Christmas standards.

Long term fans like myself, who were a little uncomfortable with her last two studio albums, will be relieved to discover that she has banished both the over-lush orchestral arrangements and her husband's eclectic but tuneless involvement this time. Further than that, she has resisted the usual temptation to include any new or self-penned songs, so that the old chestnuts are allowed to roast nicely on their own.

Musical backing on seven of the songs, the more uptempo ones, comes from the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. The sound they produce is just short of full big band jazz, and they give a smooth, rounded accompaniment to the likes of opener Jingle Bells, Let It Snow and Winter Wonderland. Diana's singing is polished and elegant as ever, but her ad-libs and occasional lapsing into scat mean that the shadows, if not the ghosts, of Ella, and Dino, and Sinatra fly a little too close for comfort.

For me the slower numbers work better, with the traditional jazz quartet instrumentation. The Christmas Song and I'll Be Home For Christmas are just the right side of dreamy and Diana makes them her own (not once did Nat Cole come to mind). White Christmas is turned into a slow, smoochy dance, as near to a waltz as the tune will allow, and it works beautifully.

Some of the slower numbers do have orchestral backing, and Johnny Mandel arranges and conducts three of them in his inimitable understated fashion - Christmas Time Is Here, Have Yourself a Merry... and Count Your Blessings. This last track isn't really a Christmas song, but it's a little gem, a lullaby from the pen of Irving Berlin and makes for an excellent closing to the album.

Throughout Diana's singing is as smooth and elegant as we have come to expect. The backings and production, courtesy of Tommy Lipuna, are also polished and just about perfect. If I was picky I would say that it is all just a bit too perfect and clinical - while it's probably a good thing that there's not even a whiff of snow or bells, jingling or otherwise, except in the lyrics, it does seem to lack a bit of colour or emotion. I don't know - maybe I was expecting too much.