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This fun compilation, Cool December: A Warm and Fuzzy Winter, is part of the Shout Factory's three-piece "Wonderland Series" (the other two are (Under the Mistletoe and Yulesville, both reviewed on this site), released for the holidays in 2003. The stated theme here is "fire and ice"--how sparks can fly in even the coldest weather. And fly they do!

This ample album (nearly an hour of music!) presents 16 cuts covering 64 years (1936-2000) of holiday tunes. The production values are quite impressive; even the pre-1950s stuff really shines. Not surprisingly, the noisiest recordings are the oldest, dating from 1936 and 1937; still, those numbers present Artie Shaw and Billie Holiday, and are well worth a listen!

The focus here is good lovin' as interpreted by swing, jazz, and big-band crooning (à la Bing Crosby). Don't be fooled into thinking that Cool December only lines up the old-timers, though; four tracks date from 1992 or later. Even for those newer recordings, the style remains faithful to the earlier era. The album contains many highlights, including Doris Day's sweet, but sultry, "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" (I had forgotten what a great singer she was); the inimitable Pearl Bailey bickering with Hot Lips Page on "Baby, It's Cold Outside," the amazing Ella Fitzgerald's incomparable "Sleigh Ride," and British newcomer René Marie's fabulously jazzy "Winter Wonderland."

Cool December is definitely a cool pick for those craving a tasty compilation of swingin' treats for the season. So snuggle up together like two birds of a feather, and enjoy the ride!

--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2005)

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From the liner notes:

Produced and Compiled by Brad Benedict
Digitally Remastered by Bob Norberg
Liner Notes by RJ Smith

Sleigh Rides and Firesides:

This is a collection about fire and ice. About how hot things could get, even when things were very cold indeed. Bing Crosby made it all possible. That's because Bing was one of the first to understand the power of the microphone. He showed how the mic could convey the nuance and intimacy of the human voice, and bring the singer's emotions up close and personal.

So it was a stone cold cinch we would feature his "Looks Like a Cold, Cold Winter." It launches our collection because Bing is the god of fire and ice, and because, like Frosty the Snowman, he liked to smoke a pipe.

Consider these songs winter wonders, icicles sparkling in the moonlight. There's a story accompanying big bandman Frankie Carle's "Little Jack Frost Get Lost." It seems Carle was searching for a gal singer--"thrushes," they called them back in the day--when his wife slipped an unmarked recording in the pile of voices he was reviewing. Carle fell for that singer bigtime, and only after the fact learned he had selected his daughter, Margie, to sing with his band. Margie found a career as Marjorie Hughes, and Little Jack Frost, well, he got gone.

[W]e love the way Jo [Stafford] heats up this mid-50s version of "Winter Weather." It's a song Stafford obviously connected with, having first sung it back in 1942, when she was a member of a vocal group called the Pied Pipers.

Mid-century jazz styles come from a pair of singers who wanted to be big band singers but ended up as genres unto themselves: Doris Day ("Let It Snow!") and Julie London ("Warm December"). June Christy gets all fire 'n ice on "Love Turns Winter to Spring." As for Ella Fitzgerald, well she ennobles a song others treat as fluff. Her "Sleigh Ride" glows with winter heat, enough to melt down the annual ice castle they build on the grounds of every winter festival.

Stacey Kent is a wonderful [newcomer, a] British jazz singer who takes on "Violets for Your Furs," a winter ballad long associated with Frank Sinatra. Rene Marie is another our brilliant contemporary jazz vocalists, self-taught, self-motivated, and unselfconscious about getting all emotional come a "Winter Wonderland."

We close with a forgotten treasure, late-30s big band gal singer Peg LaCentra fronting Artie Shaw's brawny unit.

From the Web site:

Cool December is a choice collection of sixteen warm and fuzzy winter songs that would even make Frosty lose his cool. Whether you live in an igloo or a meat locker, you'll have no problem thawing out when listening to these great performances. Includes Dean Martin "Winter Romance", Billie Holiday "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm", Bing Crosby "Looks Like A Cold, Cold Winter", as well as Julie London, June Christy, The Manhattan Transfer and many more. Tastier than an Eskimo Pie, cooler than a Frigidaire.

Don't forget your snowshoes.

Various Artists

Cool December: A Warm and Fuzzy Winter

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Track List