Snowfall: The Tony Bennett Christmas Album

Personnel includes: Tony Bennett (vocals); Barry Galbraith (guitar); David Nadian, La Mar Alsop, Fred Buldrini, Harry Glickman, Harold Kohon, Charles Libove, Harry Lookofsky, Carmel Malin, John Pintavalle, Max Pollikoff, Aaron Rosand, Mathew Raimondi, Julius Schacter, Gerald Tarack (violin); Milt Hinton, Jack Lesberg (bass violin); Alfred Brown, Harold Coletta, David Schwartz, Emanuel Vardi (viola); Seymour Barab, Lucian Schmit, Anthony Sophos, Nathan Stutch (cello); Gloria Agostini (harp).
We can hear you kvetching already; "How many Christmas albums do I need? If you've heard one version of 'Winter Wonderland' you've heard them all." Well, you obviously haven't heard SNOWFALL. Understand this: Tony Bennett is the premier post-Sinatra interpreter of American popular song. The man couldn't turn in a bad performance if his life depended on it. So no matter how many times you've heard tunes like "The Christmas Song" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," you can be sure that when Tony tackles them, he's bringing something new to the table. He swings "My Favorite Things" like no one since Coltrane (and Coltrane didn't sing). Backed by a full orchestra, he brings his grainy intimacy to bear on the perennial "White Christmas," investing the Irving Berlin evergreen (sorry) with such tangible emotion, you'll be reaching for the tinsel in July.