Another Season End

Another season for Merry and Bright is winding down.  I hope that all of you enjoyed the interviews, shares, and other contributions to the world of internet Christmas music.  I still enjoy doing this each year, bring my own spin to the collective.  

Thanks to Lola G. of Death Hags and to Erin and Michael of the Honey Badgers for the great interviews this year - I loved getting to know more about you and your music.

Thanks to the Christmas music collecting family out there - Ernie, Brad, Rob, Martin, Greg, Hugh, Tim S, Tim N, Joanna and all the rest.  Another wonderful CSODT series from Tim Neely - I learn about so many great new songs from you each year.  Another exhaustive (literally, I'm sure) year of new music info from Stubby out on the Fa.  And Ernie slayed it this year with the daily 45 song shares.  Dude - I think you're close to having all the songs.  

In the 2025 off-season, I'm thinking about turning the blog into an info space about three musicians I've discovered over the past year or so - Sonny Stitt, June Christy, and Teresa Brewer.  I learned about Sonny Stitt in mid-2023 from an NPR story about the album "Boppin' in Baltimore: Live at the Left Bank".  I've become a big fan of Mr. Stitt's music, and (as collectors are wont to do) have accumulated many of his records in the months since.

I've known about June Christy for several years, but it wasn't until earlier this year and the acquisition of a Mosaic Jazz box set of her Capital Transcription Sessions (with Peggy Lee) that I began to truly love her talent as a vocalist.  A binge-buy of her records from a going-out-of-business records store a couple months ago has left me with a large catalog to explore.

I first heard Teresa Brewer on a couple of her albums recorded with Duke Ellington.  She has a very unique vocal style, walking the tightrope between jazz and pop, and I've become very enamored with her music and have (again, the collector DNA) acquired a stack of albums to listen to in the new year.

My plan is to blog about the albums from these artists throughout the year, just to share their album information with everyone.  I'm undecided about sharing the music, so no guarantees, but at minimum you'll get album covers, info, track lists, and a bit of light commentary about the albums.  So if you want to know more about these great artists, check in here from time to time.

So, with that I'm signing off on the Christmas season, 2024, but I'll be back soon with Sonny, June, and Teresa.

Thanks for visiting!

Aaron Henton (Der Bingle)

The Family