Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas (1960)

Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas

• This is such a fun Christmas album that provides you with a great taste of swing, jazz, and of course, Ella’s angelic voice. The album has such a comfortable feel, and it constantly keeps an upbeat mood. The album opens with “Jingle Bells”, and it immediately throws you into the happy Christmas beat. It has a great bouncy feel, and though I’m not a huge fan of this version of the song, it’s still fun to listen to. Her version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is a bit different than the other versions, and that’s because it’s not as slow paced. It still keeps its melancholy feel to it, but it’s slightly more upbeat, so it makes it unique. She does it in such a beautiful way, and I love this version. “Sleigh Ride” is the 5th track on this album, and it’s arguably my favorite Christmas song of all time. Her rendition gives it such a great swing feel, and it includes a lot of great instruments. You get a really great trombone throughout the song, as well as some high brass that really gives a good tone to the song. I love this song so much, and everytime it comes on, I turn up the volume as high as I can. She does a great job on “The Christmas Song”, and although it’s hard to beat the original, Ella puts her own touch on it. She gives it the blues-y feel, as well as giving you a feeling of contentment. On the B side of the album, you get two really great versions of “Let It Snow!” and “Winter Wonderland”. Once again, her melodic voice gives them such a comfortable feel, and the festive mood continues to reign high. Her versions of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Frosty the Snowman” take these classic songs and continue giving them the swing mood, and I love them so much. The album finishes with “White Christmas”, and it leaves you with a very happy feeling. Overall, this album is pretty good, and I like it a lot. Although it uses a lot of traditional songs that you hear often, there are a few lesser known songs that she does pretty well. Although I don’t care for them as much, the album is still really solid and exciting to listen to. I would definitely recommend it to those who love swing/jazz, and it’s a great holiday experience. This album is officially Berry Approved, so go give it a listen!