Airing tonight on PBS is an hour-long program called “Happy Holidays with the Boston Pops” in which Keith Lockhart leads the orchestra in Christmas music. In honor of that, here’s Arthur Fiedler conducting one of their versions of “Sleigh Ride.” There are at least three different albums in which he and the orchestra played it, so I can’t tell you whether this is the 1949, 1959 or 1970 version.
JT sings Winter Wonderland
I’ve admired James for a long time; I remember when “Sweet Baby James” came out back in 1970. One of my fraternity brothers played it over and over again (that happened with Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” too, but it was a different fraternity brother). He did something more to justify that admiration today: he canceled a concert he was scheduled to perform in Manila to protest Philippines President Duterte’s drug war and the summary executions by police and vigilantes that are its underpinnings.
“…recent reports from the Philippines of summary executions of suspected offenders without trial or judicial process are deeply concerning and unacceptable to anyone who loves the rule of law.”
Here’s he is singing “Winter Wonderland” from his 2006 album “At Christmas.” He gets help from Chris Botti on trumpet.
Midnight Clear
Mike Marshall performs an instrumental version of “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” the title track of his 1997 album “Midnight Clear.” Marshall is a wonderful guitarist and displays his talents quite beautifully on all twelve tracks of this album. I found it a couple of years ago and enjoy it every year.
A Swinging Silver Bells
The fabulous Tony Bennett teamed up with Count Basie’s Big Band in 2008 and they released a wonderful album cleverly titled “A Swingin’ Christmas.” There were forty years between Christmas albums for Mr. Bennett; the first was “Snowfall,” originally released in 1968 and first out on CD in 1994.
French 16th century Carol
“Un Flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle” was written in the French region of Provence in the 16th century about the birth of Jesus. The listener is exhorted to speak softly to keep the newborn child from waking. On Christmas Eve in Provence children dress as milkmaids and shepherds as they go to Midnight Mass, carrying candles and singing this song.
Here is Broceliande, a trio of musicians based on the West Coast of the United States. They specialize in Celtic and early European music, playing cello, guitars, harp, recorder and flute. They’re performing their version of the song from the 2001 album “Sir Christemas: Songs of the Season”. The painting is “Le Nouveau-né” by Georges de La Tour (1593-1652).
The Wexford Carol
Here are Allison Krauss & Yo Yo Ma performing “The Wexford Carol,” from Ma’s 2008 album “Songs of Joy and Peace.” The carol is very old, although claims that it originated in the 12th century are disputed. It comes from County Wexford in Ireland and was published in the first edition of The Oxford Book of Carols in 1928.
Stille Nacht
The story goes that Silent Night was composed on guitar by Franz Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in 1818 and performed for the first time at Mass on Christmas Eve of that year. Here’s Steven Wiseman from his “Christmas in the Rockies” album performing it as Gruber might have played it back then.
Mele Kalikimaka
The version of “Mele Kalikimaka” most people know was sung by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters in 1950. It’s been covered by many folks since then, of course, but I’ve never heard one that captures the feel of it quite like this one by Kacey Musgraves, performed here on the Country Music Association’s Country Christmas TV special. It’s from her 2016 album “A Very Kacey Christmas.” The guy playing pedal steel guitar nails the Hawaiian style on the instrument. On the record that’s Paul Franklin; I’m not sure if he’s on stage for this show.
Two versions of The Holly and the Ivy
Here George Winston plays “The Holly and the Ivy” on his 1982 album “December.”
For a version that’s a lot more dramatic, here’s Loreena McKennitt singing it on her 2008 album “Midwinter’s Night Dream.”
2016-2017 Div. I Football Bowl Schedule
Here you are, ladies and germs.
From USA Today, Here are all the matchups for this season’s bowl schedule. Game One is this Saturday at the New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque. You’ll notice that there are four more that day. You may also notice that all but four or five of these games are shown on ESPN or one of its other stations.
The 41-game postseason extravaganza continues for the next three weeks through the College Football Playoff national championship game scheduled for Jan. 9 in Tampa, Fla.
The bowl lineup (all times are ET):
?Dec. 17 — New Mexico Bowl, New Mexico vs. Texas-San Antonio, Albuquerque, 2 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec?. 17 — Las Vegas Bowl, Houston vs. San Diego State, Las Vegas, 3:30 p.m. (ABC)
Dec. 17 — Camellia Bowl, Toledo vs. Appalachian State, Montgomery, Ala., 5:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 17 — Cure Bowl, Arkansas State vs. Central Florida, Orlando, 5:30 p.m. (CBSSN)
Dec. 17 — New Orleans Bowl, Southern Mississippi vs. Louisiana-Lafayette, New Orleans, 9 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 19 — Miami Beach Bowl, Tulsa vs. Central Michigan, Miami, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 20 — Boca Raton Bowl, Memphis vs. Western Kentucky, Boca Raton, Fla., 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 21 — Poinsettia Bowl, BYU vs. Wyoming, San Diego, 9 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 22 — Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Idaho vs. Colorado State, Boise, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 23 — Bahamas Bowl, Old Dominion vs. Eastern Michigan, Nassau, Bahamas, 1 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 23 — Armed Forces Bowl, Navy vs. Louisiana Tech, Fort Worth, Texas, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 23 — Dollar General Bowl, Ohio vs. Troy, Mobile, Ala., 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 24 — Hawaii Bowl, Middle Tennessee vs. Hawaii, Honolulu, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 26 — St. Petersburg Bowl, Mississippi State vs. Miami (Ohio), St. Petersburg, Fla., 11 a.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 26 — Quick Lane Bowl, Boston College vs. Maryland, Detroit, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Dec. 26 — Independence Bowl, North Carolina State vs. Vanderbilt, Shreveport, La., 5 p.m. (ESPN2)
Dec. 27 — Heart of Dallas Bowl, North Texas vs. Army, noon (ESPN)
Dec. 27 — Military Bowl, Wake Forest vs. Temple, Annapolis, Md., 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 27 — Holiday Bowl, Minnesota vs. Washington State, San Diego, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 27 — Cactus Bowl, Baylor vs. Boise State, Phoenix, 10:15 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 28 — Pinstripe Bowl, Pittsburgh vs. Northwestern, Bronx, N.Y., 2 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 28 — Russell Athletic Bowl, Miami (Fla.) vs. West Virginia, Orlando, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 28 — Foster Farms Bowl, Indiana vs. Utah, Santa Clara, Calif., 8:30 p.m. (FOX)
Dec. 28 — Texas Bowl, Kansas State vs. Texas A&M, Houston, 9 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 29 — Birmingham Bowl, South Florida vs. South Carolina, Birmingham, Ala., 2 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 29 — Belk Bowl, Virginia Tech vs. Arkansas, Charlotte, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 29 — Alamo Bowl, Oklahoma State vs. Colorado, San Antonio, 9 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 30 — Liberty Bowl, TCU vs. Georgia, Memphis, Tenn., Noon (ESPN)
Dec. 30 — Sun Bowl, North Carolina vs. Stanford, El Paso, Texas, 2 p.m. (CBS)
Dec. 30 — Music City Bowl, Nebraska vs. Tennessee, Nashville, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 30 — Arizona Bowl, South Alabama vs. Air Force, Tucson, Ariz., 5:30 p.m. (ASN)
Dec. 30 — Orange Bowl, Florida State vs. Michigan, Miami Gardens, Fla., 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 31 — Citrus Bowl, Louisville vs. LSU, Orlando, 11 a.m. (ABC)
Dec. 31 — TaxSlayer Bowl, Georgia Tech vs. Kentucky, Jacksonville, Fla., 11 a.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 31 — CFP Semifinal: Peach Bowl, Alabama vs. Washington, Atlanta, 3 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 31 — CFP Semifinal: Fiesta Bowl, Clemson vs. Ohio State, Glendale, Ariz., 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Jan. 2 — Outback Bowl, Iowa vs. Florida, Tampa, 1 p.m. (ABC)
Jan. 2 — Cotton Bowl Classic, Wisconsin vs. Western Michigan, Arlington, Texas, 1 p.m. (ESPN)
Jan. 2 — Rose Bowl Game, Penn State vs. Southern California, Pasadena, Calif., 5 p.m. (ESPN)
Jan. 2 — Sugar Bowl, Oklahoma vs. Auburn, New Orleans, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Jan. 9 — National Championship Game: Semifinal winners, Tampa, Fla., 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)