Found this CD over at Amazon in their used section!A few years ago, I used to moderate the "Strange Records Collecting" group over at Yahoo. If you happen to click on the link, you'll find this original album cover on its home page. For some strange reason, I wasn't able to pull it down after Christmas 2003 so it remained!
I first became aware of Jimmy McGriff on the 1996 Capitol Records release of "Christmas Cocktails" in which his renditions of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" and "White Christmas" were fused together as one track.
He then appeared on the 1997 followup "Christmas Cocktails II". This time, his version of "Jingle Bells" was paired up with Caiola & Ortolani's "Sleigh Ride" and made for a fun track.
So when a FULL copy of this album came around, I jumped at the chance to hear the whole album!
This album contains only eight tracks (just eight tracks? - disappointing at first) but you'll never hear the Hammond B-3 wail any better than McGriff plays it. His versions of "Winter Wonderland" and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" are epics - several listenings of these tracks are required. The other tunes are fantastic, especially "Hip Santa" and "Christmas McGriff" are fantastic jazz tunes with Christmas as a minor theme!
NOTE: McGriff's close friend and mentor was Jimmy Smith. His influence can be heard through this album and Smith's "Christmas '64" will be reviewed here soon too!
On to the next new Christmas CD in my collection...
Capt
