"Then, as I got deeper into it, I decided - I mean, that's a funny idea, but I don't want to make any political statement here or do any kind of agenda. "It turned out that a lot of Christmas songs have been written by Jews," says Zorn. He curates a Jewish music series on his record label, and his first idea was to do an album of Christmas music all written by Jews. Zorn says he has wanted to make a Christmas record for more than a decade. And I began thinking, you know, I mean, I wish there were more records I'd really enjoy listening to at this time, 'cause I keep pulling out the same records year after year after year." "Every year comes around, I put on the holiday music that I really love listening to," Zorn says. And, well, Miles Davis didn't hear himself playing "Jingle Bells."īut that's exactly what John Zorn wants to hear. It turns out Davis had been asked by his label to contribute to an album of jazz artists doing Christmas music. And then he said, 'I want you to write me a Christmas song.' I said, 'Huh?' " "You know it's pretty wild to get a phone call from him. "Can you imagine?" says Dorough, only half jokingly. "Blue X-mas," subtitled, "To whom it may concern," was commissioned by a musician as well-known for his ill temper as for his singular trumpet playing - Miles Davis. I hope you have a white one but for me it's blue.īlue X-mas - that's the way you see it when you're feeling blue.īlue X-mas - when you're blue at Christmastime you see right throughĪll the waste, all the sham, all the haste Schoolhouse Rock - took a completely different approach and created a kind of anti-Christmas classic. He was an 8-year-old looking forward to the holidays in 1962 when another jazz composer, pianist and singer Bob Dorough - the man who would later We had a tree, and we used to trim the tree with music playing," Zorn says. "I've always loved the holidays - my parents celebrated Christmas when I was young. This year? The Jewish Zorn has produced a straight-up love letter to Christmas. "Blues Noel" careens from jump-blues sax and hand claps to electronic noise to ethereal wordless chanting to blues piano mixed with sleigh bells and ends with a voice in French backed by glockenspiel wishing listeners "Joyeux Noel." Indeed, Zorn's first stab at capturing the spirit of Christmas in sound came in 1999 with a piece that Tzadik is dedicated to releasing the best in avant-garde and experimental music. Tzadik - the Hebrew word for "righteous one." The top of the label's website reads: Saxophonist, composer and MacArthur "genius" John Zorn is also a record producer who runs his own label, What do you get when one of the songwriters behind a beloved children's program and a champion of challenging new music each approach Christmas songs in their own ways?
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