To break away from the kiddie records versions of "Jingle Bells" for a bit, we jump ahead to 1962 with some great jazzy recordings of the tune by two of the greatest bandleaders ever!
First up is Duke Ellington with this track from the 1962 "Jingle Bell Jazz" album on Columbia Records:
That's awesome!
At some point, an alternate version of "Jingle Bells" by Duke popped up. It's decidedly different and I remember being surprised by it when I first heard it, as it was not noted as such. I think it was on this reissue:
Also awesome!
We go from the Duke to the Count, as Count Basie had this recording of " Basie's Jingle Bells" on the Roulette label, also in 1962:
That's as great as a record with that title should be!
I don't know if that had a stock 45 rpm release or just the radio promo version.
Count Basie had recorded a live version the year before at Birdland. I'm not sure when that was originally released, but I first encountered it on this CD:
That's great too!
For a bonus, here's a recent recording by the Count Basie Orchestra from 2015:
Some great stuff from great bandleaders still laying it down in the early 1960s!
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