Herb Alpert: Christmas Album

For the past seven years, I have devoted a December post to a favorite vintage sleeper Christmas album. As readers know, I love the genre and how albums from different decades capture not only the season but also the feel of a decade and moment in time.

My pick this year is Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass: Christmas Album. Released in 1968, this one has it all—hip choir vocals arranged by Shorty Rogers, tight trumpets arranged by Herb and strings on a track by Rogers. For years, this holiday album was out of print and cost a fortune if you could find it. Then in 2005, it was remastered and reissued by Shout Factory. There's a timeless, pink champagne quality to the music that both captures the yule's cheer and adds a playful feel of the Brass. What's more, the album includes one of my favorite Christmas songs: Burt Bacharach and Larry Kusik's “The Bell That Couldn't Jingle." You'll find Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass: Christmas Album album here.

Here are my previous inductees to the JazzWax Vintage Holiday Album Hall of Fame...

2013—Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme's That Holiday Feeling! (1964)

2012—Duke Pearson: Merry Ole Soul (1969)

2011—Urbie Green: A Cool Yule Tide (1954). Out of print, I'm afraid, but here's a track: Winter Wonderland.

2010—Eddie Higgins: Christmas Songs (2004)

2009—June Christy: This Time of Year (1961)

2008—Jo Stafford's Happy Holidays: I Love the Winter Weather (1950s)