Merry and Bright's Best of 2025 Awards

As we wind down the 2025 season, here are my picks for the best Christmas music this year.

Best Album - Sonus Borealis by The Accidentals & Kaboom Studio Orchestra

Song selection, stretching the boundaries of the Christmas music genre, stunningly gorgeous singing, amazing arrangements, superb instrumental partnership with Kaboom Studio Orchestra - all of this makes Sonus Borealis a holiday winter collection my album of the year.  I played it more than any other album, selected a song for my annual comp, selected another song for my annual radio guest-DJ gig, and thoroughly enjoyed the only cover I've heard of Christmas Eve Sarajevo, re-imagined only slightly but significantly.  This CD will go straight to my A List container.

Runner Up - Christmas Is... by Bria Skonberg

Bria Skonberg's Christmas Is... had been on my list of 2025 releases that I was tracking, but with all the things happening during the season, it fell off my radar.  Until Dec 18, that is, when I bought a download of this album.   It's tremendous.  Magnificent arrangements of standards, high energy, reverence to the greats i.e. "Sugar Rum Cherry", the Duke Ellington arrangement of Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.  The opening track "Carol of the Bells" is an immediate attention grabber, and will find it's way onto my 2026 compilation.  

Best Compilation Album: Sleigh the Holidays Vol. 2

Without a doubt, Sleigh the Holidays Vol. 2 is the best compilation album of this season.  Two (yes, two!) tracks from this record made it onto my annual compilation, and I played one song on my radio gig.  All 15 songs are outstanding, and JPOLND even made "Santa Baby" one to enjoy - a lot, actually.  Ten jingles and a peppermint twist to Marilyn from HBM, the label that brought this record to life.  More please!  Volume 3 please!

Best Song:  "The Christmas Song" by Lakecia Benjamin feat. Christie Dashiell 

Grammy nominee and John Coltrane disciple Lakecia Benjamin is vibrant, effusive with energy, and brings a passion to her live performances that is practically unequaled among today's jazz stars.  She channeled her emotional sax playing into a beautiful rendering of "The Christmas Song", with vocals by fellow Grammy nominee Christie Dashiell.  Stunning.  Available on all the streaming platforms, or you can purchase on iTunes.

Runner Up:  "Jingle Bells" by The Blah Blah Blahs

The Blah Blah Blahs version of the revered chestnut "Jingle Bells" is my runner-up for Song of the Year.  This track from the aforementioned Sleigh the Holidays Vol. 2 was the catchiest, highest energy song of the season.  It took a pair of Grammy nominees to bump it from the top spot.

Spirit of Christmas Present Award:  Jingle Bells by PIQSIQ

PIQSIQ's rendition of Jingle Bells (it's been a big year for Jingle Bells) is mesmerizing, haunting, and makes you wonder if you've stumbled onto Lucius from the Upside Down.  Our friends at Christmas A Go Go made us aware of both the song and the sisters duo PIQSIQ.  Their Inuit-style throat singing and layered recording make it a song that you've never heard the likes of before.  PIQSIQ has a few other Christmas releases as well, which will be appearing on my annual comps for years to come.  So, for sounding marvelously ghostly and eerie, PIQSIQ receives the first ever Spirit of Christmas Present Award.

Out of Left Field Award:  Tinsel by Major Metals

Nate Kushner, performing as Major Metals, sent me an e-mail about Tinsel fairly late in the season.  I (finally!) checked it out, and dug it like my dog Whitley burying a half-bagel in the back yard (true story - and I have no idea where the bagel came from).  I could call Tinsel the indie-EP of the year, but I think I'll stick with the Out of Left Field special recognition award.  Don't let 2025 come to a close without listening to Tinsel.  Thoroughly amusing, especially if you're a fan of the off-kilter.

Christmas Eve is Here Again

Good Christmas Eve to everyone!

Another season is coming to a close.  Like the Spirit of Christmas Present, our time here has grown short.  We will be around Merry & Bright until the New Year, with a few more posts to wrap up 2025, and then look forward to the unveiling of the new calendar, a fresh start, and revived energy for 2026.

Here in Kansas City, Christmas Eve started quite foggy, and the fog will return tonight, making Rudolph a necessity for travels.  Our weather is quite unseasonable at present.  Yesterday, Dec 23, I was able to don shorts and a long-sleeved T-Shirt and take a 10-mile e-bike ride.  Today, temperatures are to reach the low to mid 60s.  Christmas Day is also to be in the mid-60s, nearing but likely not breaking the record of 67.  No White Christmas here this year.

Today began with a Christmas Eve brunch at our son's house, where the siblings (our children) did their gift exchange, and the aunts & uncles bestowed many presents to our granddaughter.  This afternoon we'll attend an early Mass, find dinner afterward (we're hoping our favorite Mexican restaurant is open), and then retire back home for a relaxing evening with Christmas movies, and perhaps a smidgen of Drambuie and scotch.

Tomorrow our older son & family will visit us in the morning before heading to California for a week, then the rest of the children & spouses/boyfriends will join us in the afternoon for presents and dinner.  It should be a fine day.

Music, merriment, joy, food, and drink will fill the house on Christmas Day!

To all of you, have a very happy and safe holiday!  Merry Christmas!

Sharin' the Brass

This in my final share of the year.  Not the final post, though.  I have a couple more coming before bringing down the curtain on the 2025 Merry & Bright performance.  

This share is an album that probably everyone reading this blog already has.  It's a thrift store classic, indeed a classic in every sense.  It's fun, it's upbeat, it's rousing.  It can only be Christmas with the Mexicali Brass.

Ten songs, you know them all, mariachi'd up, brassed to perfection.  And (dare I say) what an album cover 😊

Enjoy Christmas with the Mexicali Brass!

Whaddya Know! More New Music!

And the new music keeps rolling in 😊 

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Nate Kushner and Major Metals - "Tinsel"

Leading off our final new music post for this season is the very interesting, eyebrow-raising, perhaps not for the kiddies, EP from Nate Kushner and Major Metals Tinsel.

Tinsel treats us with four very original songs, "Eyes Wide Shut and Die Hard 2", "Lemmings (Fa la la la la la la Lemmings remix)", "The New Years Shoes", and "This Christmas (Onny Hathaway version)".  

Nate Kushner is a New York based singer-songwriter and producer releasing "experimental and comedy-adjacent" music as Major Metals.  Let me just quote Nate about his songs - it's easier that way.

• Eyes Wide Shut and Die Hard 2: a vibraphone driven Christmas jazz
original about finding comfort in a couple of very unconventional holiday
movies. You'll have to listen to find out which movies.
• Lemmings (Fa la la la la la la la Lemmings remix): a cursed celesta and
jingle bell reinterpretation of an older not-Christmas track.
• The New Year’s Shoes: a short acoustic sequel to Christmas Shoes, taking
the story to its logical conclusion
• This Christmas (Onny Hathaway version): a drop D sludge and doom cover
that keeps the vocal sincere.

This seems like something Christmas Underground would dig, but I haven't seen it there (yet).  I enjoyed this EP a bunch.  Slightly demented, highly amusing, undeniably seasonal.  Don't let the holiday go by without checking this one out.  

Tinsel on Bandcamp

Major Metals website

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Bailey Pickles and Shelley Harland - "All I Want Is You"

From Bailey Pickles and Shelley Harland comes a new original composition, "All I Want Is You".  Direct from Shelley's Instagram:

Thrilled to share my new collaboration with the very talented and sweetest
of souls @baileypickles (yes the incredible new composer for @beastgames
@beastgames_season_2 ) we had a lot of fun in the studio writing this for
you and hope it brings all the warm and fuzzies during the Christmas
Holidays.   So grateful Enjoy Shells

Shelley Harland website

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Jodi DiPiazza - "The First Christmas Day"

Musical prodigy and autism advocate, Jodi DiPiazza, has just released her debut single, “The First Christmas Day.” Just in time for the holidays, the classically trained composer and singer’s ballad recounts the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem, set to an emphatic piano flourish highlighted by her expressive sincerity and dynamic vocal refrain.

Jodi DiPiazza website

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Holidays with Skitch

Today's share is Winter Holiday by Skitch Henderson with the New York Philharmonic.  Skitch Henderson had a long, renowned career as a pianist, composer, and conductor of pops-style orchestras, including the house orchestra for NBC's Today Show and The Tonight Show, during both the Steve Allen and Johnny Carson eras (preceding Milton DeLugg and Doc Severinsen).

Winter Holiday is an excellent recording, and one could add a 'wink wink' to 'Winter', as the album's sides are songs for a snow holiday (side A) and a sun holiday (side B).  The Snow side includes old favorites "Winter Wonderland", "Moonlight in Vermont", and "Sleigh Ride", and two by Prokofiev, "Winter Holiday" and "Troika". 

Flip to the Sun side for "Caribbean Polka", "Macarenas" (no, not that), "Never On Sunday", and four others.  What a creative approach to a Winter Holiday album!

For our Christmas song enjoyment, the Snow Holiday tracks are exceptional, particularly "Sleigh Ride".  Skitch arranges and conducts expertly, and the New York Philharmonic performs exceptionally.  This is a fine album for your holiday enjoyment.

Please enjoy Skitch Henderson's Winter Holiday

David, Not Jack

Tonight's share is Merry Christmas, by David Frost and Billy Taylor.  Orchestra, guest soloists, "Special Gift" performances by Gerri Granger, some narration by David Frost.  It's an interesting album, all in all pretty good Christmas music.  Well arranged and performed by all.

The tracks include six (plus a reprise) Christmas standards, mostly the popular spiritual classics and including the beautiful 'Wexford Carol', and four composed by Billy Taylor, plus a poem by G.K. Chesterton, recited by David Frost.

Those of us who grew up in the '70s and '80s must remember David Frost, who passed away in 2013.  His presence as a journalist, host, and entertainer was unmissable.  He touched many areas of popular entertainment, as evident by this record.  I think you'll enjoy the package Mr. Frost and Mr. Taylor put together for us.

Please enjoy Merry Christmas by David Frost and Billy Taylor

Feliz Navidad!

Today's album is, along with the previously-shared Teresa Brewer, a top share for this season.  Mi Cancion de Navidad by Los Alegres de Teran was a surprise find at a local Half Price Books.

I was very pleased with the music on this album.  It's rare (in these parts anyway) to find a Christmas album with a track list of completely unknown songs.  These aren't Spanish language versions of good ol' American chestnuts.  Instead, these are Mexican Christmas songs through and through.

Using the Google, I translated the song titles, although even my very rudimentary Spanish skills gave me a pre-translation good guess.

Noche de Paz - Silent Night

Feliz ano Nuevo - Happy New Year

Mi Cancion de Navidad - My Christmas Song

Amarga Navidad - Bitter Christmas

Paloma Nuelve a Tu Nido - Paloma, Return To Your Nest

And so on.  I don't quite get all the translations in a cultural sense, but that notwithstanding, this is a very nice album from Mexico filled with songs celebrating the holiday.

Please enjoy Mi Cancio de Navidad.

Son of New Music for 2025!

More new music for your 2025 holiday season!

Will Tynan - "O Christmas Tree" 

Lifelong musician, sometime entrepreneur and venture capitalist, occasional corporate coach, and world traveler (performing his music along the way), Will Tynan has stepped into the world of Christmas music in 2025, releasing a fine interpretation of one of our favorite carols, "O Christmas Tree".  Instrumental guitar with light accompanying strings and percussion and backing sound effects create an engaging soundscape.  Reverence to the original melody juxtaposed with more whimsical segments make this one of my favorites this year!

Stream "O Christmas Tree" on Spotify

Will Tynan website

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Mine & The Maker - "Christmas Will Not Be Forgotten" 

Mine & The Maker is the creation of songwriter Tessa Laszlo. The "mine" is where the lyrics and stories begin, and the "maker" shifts with collaborators who turn the words & ideas into something larger - songs that carry memory, grief, & healing into the world.  Mine & The Maker has a new song this season, "Christmas Will Not Be Forgotten"  It's a nostalgic Christmas song with a classic crooner feel and timeless holiday mood, written as a vow in song form to loved ones who've passed that Christmas will not be forgotten!

Stream it on Spotify!

Mine & The Maker on Facebook

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Jeff Meegan and David Tobin - "The Season's Back Again"

Jeff Meegan and David Tobin are bringing back their 2006 release The Season's Back Again, a 7 song album of original Christmas songs in a rousing big band style.  

Emmy Award–winning vocalist/composer Jeff Meegan and BAFTA-affiliated composer/orchestrator David Tobin are officially reviving their beloved holiday masterpiece The Season’s Back Again, reigniting a Christmas tradition cherished by families across the globe. Originally recorded at the iconic Abbey Road Studio 2, the album returns just in time for the 2025 holiday season—bringing with it the warmth, nostalgia, and lush cinematic elegance that made it an instant classic.

Long regarded as one of Meegan & Tobin’s most heartfelt holiday projects, The Season’s Back Again features standout performances from Jeff Meegan, Steve Memmolo, Lydia Harrell, and the ensemble of Jo Goldsmith-Eteson, Sara Brimer Davey, Kevin Fox and Nick Girard. Together their voices collectively shape the album’s glowing, timeless sound. Its revival arrives at a moment when audiences are craving comfort, connection, and tradition—positioning the album as a must-hear highlight of this year’s holiday soundtrack.

Think Harry Connick Jr, think Squirrel Nut Zippers, think Glenn Miller.  It's energetic, it's fresh, it'll have you toe-tapping. If you're a big band fan (or even if you're not), check out The Season's Back Again, available on all the usual digital platforms.

Stream it on Spotify

Teresa Brewer "At Christmas Time"

Today's share is one of my top two featured albums this season, At Christmas Time by Teresa Brewer, a 1957 release on Coral Records, her label for the first 10+ years of her long career.

Teresa Brewer is a relatively recent "discovery" for me personally.  I first learned of her a couple years ago from the album "It Don't Mean a Thing If You Ain't Got That Swing", which she recorded with Duke Ellington.  Then last year I found an album she recorded with Mercer Ellington (featuring an excellent "Ring Dem Bells), and from there I began to explore her work, picking up a number of her albums at the local purveyors of used records.  

So of course, I searched her discography for a Christmas album.  At Christmas Time is her only Christmas record, and it, sadly, was not to be found ay my usual vinyl haunts.  But, I did find it online (either eBay or Discogs - I don't recall which), and made the purchase.  So exciting!

It shipped quickly, last year, from Canada.  Some of you may recall the Canada Post strike that took place last year.  The record was shipped, made it one stop along the way, and then was delayed for a few weeks before the strike ended.  Happy ending though - once the strike was over, At Christmas Time made it to my home.

At Christmas Time is a very unique album.  It is all original songs, and is interspersed with dialogue with Ms. Brewer's children.  It makes for a very homey, cozy feel.  The songs are in Teresa's wheelhouse in terms of vocal style and song composition.  "Umpteen Days Until Christmas", "Christmas Cookies and Holiday Hearts", and "The Gingerbread House" and my personal favorites.  All in all, this is one of my favorite albums in my vinyl collection.

Teresa Brewer has a unique singing style, full of sass and style, perfect 50's/60's pop.  I think that there is a bit of 'love her or no-thanks-I'll-pass on her' amongst the general population of music lovers.  I fall definitely on the 'love her' side, although there a few songs that wear out their welcome quickly (check out "I Gotta Go Get By Baby").  I continue to explore her musical catalog, and greatly enjoy her work, spanning from the early 50s into the early 90's.  (She has a great guest-host episode of The Muppet Show too)

For the share, I decided to separate out the dialogue bits from the songs, so there are a whopping 29 tracks.  I thought that this would make a better listening experience than either including the dialog with the song tracks, or having just two files for the two album sides.

I hope you enjoy one of my favorite shares this year, Teresa Brewer's At Christmas Time.

Where It All Started

As, literally, long as I can remember, I've had Songs of Christmas by Bing Crosby, a 1960 release from Decca records (cat # DL 34461).  I was born in 1964, and I can remember this record in our house, basically forever.  I think I was about 5 years old when I got a record player for Christmas, a little light blue all-in-one, with built-in speakers and 16/33/45/78 speeds.  Somewhere in the house was a larger record player, or maybe it came and went as my older sister and brother moved out and back in.  But my little blue record player stayed, and Songs of Christmas was a very frequent visitor to its turntable (along with Lorne Greene's Have a Happy Holiday and, later, many Disney soundtrack records).  

You can see on the rather worn back cover my checkmarks, showing which songs were my favorites.  "Rudolph" and "Twelve Days" were by far the most played, made easy as the first track on each side.  I'm sure my parents in our four-room home got tired of hearing these played so frequently, and throughout the year.

I've toted this record everywhere with me as I've moved about - from home to college, then from college to Kansas City (2 apartments, one townhome, and two houses).  It's where my love of Bing Crosby came from.  It's where I first learned the nickname "Der Bingle" (although it's spelled "Der Bingel" on the back of the album).  And it's absolutely the seed of my love for Christmas music.  It's the icon of nostalgia of Christmases for me, bringing back the memories that seem to fade just a bit more each year.  Seeing this record and putting it on the turntable sends me back to rural Kansas in the late 60s and early 70s.  Thanks to Linus, we all know what Christmas is all about, but running a close second for me is Bing and Songs of Christmas.

I'm sharing the music from this record, although it's all available for you to purchase or stream through every media possible.  If you want to listen to how well ol' El Bingo sounds on this one-owner 1960 vinyl, download and give a listen.  If you're the rare reader here who doesn't already have their own selections of Bing Crosby, and you like what you hear, please consider making a purchase and supporting those who continue to make this great Christmas music available.

Bing Crosby Songs of Christmas

A Little Christmas Music

Tonight's share, "The Bells of St. Mary's" by Jerry Burke, was in the Holiday bin at a local record store.  The cover looked pretty festive, the title track is one of my favorite Christmas songs, and Jerry Burke is touted as Lawrence Welk's Favorite Organist!  And we love us some Lawrence Welk in the Bingle household.  So, after a quick 'is is on CD?' search, I grabbed the album for sharing, not looking closely (or, actually, at all) at the song listing on the album cover.

Turns out, "The Bells of St. Mary's" is the only Christmas song on the album.  But, you know, that's all right.  Jerry Burke is indeed a skilled musician on the Hammond organ, the arrangements are nice - lots of chimes - and there rest of the songs are pleasant to the ear.  I mean, how often do you get to hear "The Third Man Theme" on Hammond organ?  And no matter how many versions of "Jeannine, I Dream of Lilac Time" you may have in your collection, isn't there always room for one more?

So, this is a fine record, all in all. You'll exhaust its Christmas offerings after the first 2:02, but save the rest of it for a lazy Sunday afternoon with a glass of sherry.

Please enjoy Jerry Burke and "The Bells of St. Mary's".

Nuttin' and Barking

The first share of this season is the single "(I'm Gettin') Nuttin' For Christmas" b/w "Something Barked on Christmas Morning" by Ricky Zahnd and the Blue Jeaners.  Recorded in 1955 by nine-year old Ricky Zahnd and backed by the Blue Jeaners (also children), these are actually a pretty good couple of songs.  Novelty-ish songs sung by kids have a short shelf-life for me, so thankfully young Mr. Zahnd performs well and the songs themselves are fine.  Not something that I want to play on repeat, but enjoyable in small doses.  Cute, but not overly sappy.  Mirthful, but not annoyingly so.  

Interesting fact (according the the Internet) - Ricky Zahnd, in adulthood, became an executive VP for the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers.  

So, please enjoy this single to start our sharing season this year!

Ricky Zahnd download link