Orrin beat me to my annual post about Christmas jazz with the article about Charlie Parker's White Christmas.  But here are some holiday-themed recordings from my 2 biggest jazz heroes, Benny Carter and Sonny Rollins.

First up is Christmas in New Orleans, featuring Louis Armstrong on vocals and trumpet with Benny Carter's big band.  Bassist and radio host Christian McBride lists this among his favorite Christmas jazz records. 

A Child is Born  is probably the best-known composition by the trumpeter, composer/arranger and bandleader, Thad Jones.  Although not written as a Christmas song, this simple, peaceful and hymn-like melody feels as though it could have been...and so when Thad's older brother, Hank, and Benny Carter recorded it for a jazz Christmas collection, the tune's title was infused with new meaning.

Winter Wonderland is really a winter song about lovers enjoying a snowy day rather than a Christmas song...but it's on every holiday playlist you'll hear.  It's exactly the kind of pop ditty that Sonny Rollins loves to dig into, but instead of playing the tune with its usual bounce, Sonny interprets it as a languid ballad.

Count Your Blessings, written by Irving Berlin, was introduced by Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney in the film "White Christmas," thus guaranteeing that it would always be thought of as a holiday song...even though its lyrics, too, make no mention of Christmas.  Sonny was a big fan of Crosby's and covered many of Bing's tunes (including I'm an Old Cowhand and Sweet Leilani).  Sonny beautifully caresses and elaborates on the melody, supported by the rhythm section from the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet (of which Rollins was then a member).