Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and the song by Mel Tormé, The Christmas Song.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – Bing Crosby comes to mind. I’m a big Bing Crosby fan, so his version of White Christmas has always been my favorite. I know it’s been done by everybody, but I love the original version by him. I like Rosemary Clooney’s Christmas recordings. And then there’s Etta Jones’ Christmas album, Christmas with Etta Jones. I love anything Etta sings – she could sing the New York telephone directory and move you. Another is a song written and recorded by Donny Hathaway called This Christmas. I love the lyric and I love the melody – it’s different, it’s not your usual Christmas song.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – Well, the most memorable Christmas for me was when I was a youngster. I don’t even know how old I was, but very young, around four or five or six, in Houston, Texas. I was born during the Depression, and so there was no money, and many Christmases my folks had to tell us that we wouldn't be having Christmas presents. Many Christmases we got fruit – an apple and an orange – and that was it, that was the highlight of our Christmas. But this one Christmas, under the Christmas tree was a doll bedroom set that my dad had made for my sister and me. I still get emotional when I think about it. I have no idea how he found the time to do it, or where he did it, because there was just no sign of anything. I couldn’t think back to, "Well, he came home late that day," or anything – everything was normal. But he made this doll bedroom set with a little dresser, and drawers you could pull out, and a mirror, and a little bed – it was a miniature of adult furniture. It was just perfect. It stays with me – I think of that constantly. It’s one of my fondest memories of my father – there are many, many, many, but that one was when I was a small child, and when it was so important to me. It was like a dream come true – it’s something I never even dreamt of having. Here was this little bedroom set under a tree.

Ernestine Anderson’s most recent CD is Isn’t It Romantic (Koch). Visit her official website.

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – Well, of the traditional songs, I think my favorites are Silent Night and It Came Upon the Midnight Clear. There’s a song that we’re doing in the Jazz Nativity, which we’ve been involved with over the past ten years – we’re doing it again on December 12 at the Lamb’s Theater in New York, playing the guardian angels – that is a beautiful, classic piece, and that is What Child Is This, which is based on Greensleeves. We enjoy doing that song because Roy [husband Roy Kral] found a little different way to give it some identity of our own. That’s what makes it interesting to do a song, usually, because the ones that are done over and over again, you really don’t even want to do them unless you can put something a little different into it – your own personality or your own spirit. As for more recent songs, I love, of course, The Christmas Song, the Mel Tormé-Bob Wells song. I imagine that a lot of singers would suggest that one. We never do many Christmas songs, because we normally don’t perform very much over the holidays. It would be fun one year for us to try to do a Christmas album. We would try to search out some unusual things, and I’m sure there’s quite a few good songs that aren’t as well-known, because it’s hard to get the exposure for some of these new songs, because they play the old, familiar ones all the time. Nowadays, people get sick of them by the time Christmas comes around. No matter how good something is, if it’s done to death you do tire of it.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – I’ve always loved Judy Garland’s recording of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – I think that’s a very poignant song, and I love her rendition of it, because she gave it a poignancy that was definitely written into the song. She was perfect for it. Of course, I always love to hear Bing Crosby, or Rosemary Clooney, or any of the great singers doing Christmas songs, but normally we listen to instrumental music. There’s one in particular, it’s such a wonderful album that we bring out every year by Jerry Fielding. He’s not that well known, but he’s a prominent conductor and composer, and the album is just lovely – extremely musical, and so beautiful. At Christmas time we also like to listen to Bach’s organ music, or Segovia on guitar; it’s really not Christmas music, per se, but it has that spirit in it.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – I do remember that when I was six years old, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin – and you don’t remember too many things from back that far – there was a flurry activity in the living room while my mother was dressing me in the bedroom. I knew it was Christmas, and I knew that Santa Claus was coming, and I could hear something going on. When I finally got dressed I was taken to the tree in the living room, and of all the presents I’ve ever gotten, this was my favorite one. I got a dollhouse that my father had built for me. It was on a little platform, and it had six rooms – they were all lit with ceiling lights that really worked, and they were full of furniture, some of which he himself had made, and draperies and rugs. There was a stairway that went through to the second floor, and an address out front. Wow, what a dream for a kid of six to get a dollhouse that was all outfitted! I played with that thing almost every single day for several years. This was just beyond any dream – I never knew that my father was building this in secret. Anything that thrills you so much as a kid, you remember that.

Jackie Cain and Roy Kral’s most recent CD is By the Beautiful Sea (DRG).

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – I like Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow; I like The Christmas Waltz by Jule Styne; and I like White Christmas. These three are my favorites – I have a warm place in my heart for all of them.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – There are three albums that I play every Christmas – well, I play a lot more than that, but I always play these. I like Peggy Lee’s Christmas Carousel [Connor sings, "I like a sleighride, I like a sleighride"]; and naturally one of my favorites is Nat King Cole’s A Christmas Song; and the one I really love is by Michel Legrand and Jean-Pierre Rampal, and it’s with the London Symphony Orchestra, and it’s called Pastorales de Noel. I absolutely love it – it has Greensleeves on it, and the way Michel arranged it – it’s just gorgeous.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – There was one that stands out especially. I guess I was about 15 or 16, and my mother had died, and I was living with my sister and brother-in-law, in Jefferson City, Missouri, and my brother-in-law’s mother and father lived on a farm in Springfield, Missouri, which wasn’t too far to drive. So I remember a Christmas that was so beautiful – you know, the snow falling, and this huge farmhouse, and this huge tree, and all the turkey and the carvings, and all that – you wouldn’t believe. It was what a true Christmas should be like. That was really the most home-like Christmas I ever had. And after that, on the road, it was downhill all the way. It was depressing – it really was. That’s why I never work around Christmas anymore – I spend the holidays at home. I want to see my tree, and I want to be quiet. I don’t want to be in any hotel room!

Chris Connor’s most recent CD reissues include Warm Cool: The Atlantic Years (32 Jazz); Chris Connor; He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not; and Ballads of the Sad Café (Collectables).

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – I’ll Be Home for Christmas is a beautiful song that means something to so many people, and it doesn’t have to be about Christmas – it’s about coming home, or to any sort of safe place. At Avery Fisher Hall last Christmas I did the Concord Jazz "Swingin’, Singin’ Christmas" along with various singers and instrumentalists. Every time I tried to pick something, like I’ll Be Home for Christmas, it had been taken already. I also considered doing It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, which is such a beautiful song, with some great verses that I wasn’t familiar with that I finally paid attention to, even though I had sung that song so many times when I was a kid. Turns out that was taken too. I ended up singing Blue Christmas, Good Morning Blues, and Merry Christmas Baby. These are all secular songs that anyone would enjoy – I didn’t want to get too godly. I remember when I was a little kid, I used to watch the "Million Dollar Movie" most nights on WOR in New York. One night around Christmas, they showed some old movie where someone sang Let It Snow. I then went up to my bedroom and sang it to myself in front of the mirror, using my hairbrush as a microphone, just waiting to be discovered. So Let It Snow was one of my hairbrush songs – that was my Christmas hairbrush song.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – The Roches’ We Three Kings and Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas – I love them both, from top to bottom. I’m one of those people who has trepidations about Christmas – it brings a flood of mixed emotions. It’s just a sad time for many people, and I don’t like the feelings of loneliness and regret and exclusion that so many people feel. I love the Roches’ album for many reasons; the beauty of their sound and their harmony cancels out the fact that you may not care much for the same old Christmas songs. Usually with Christmas albums, it’s like, "Here we go again" – no matter how good the singer is, it’s basically the same album with a different face on the cover. But you can listen to this record on a lot of different levels, and the songs just happen to be Christmas songs. Ella, on this particular record, it’s all real simple – it’s clean, and it’s fun, and it’s pretty – it just makes me feel good. If I was arrested and put in a lock-up facility and forced to listen to the Roches’ and Ella’s Christmas albums constantly, I don’t know how fond of them I’d remain – it would depend on what my crime was, and how long I’d be in solitary confinement – but they’re still high on my list. I also like Rosemary Clooney’s newer Christmas album, and I like the Very Special Christmas compilations with a bunch of rock singers. Annie Lennox sings Winter Wonderland, and I like Annie Lennox singing anything.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – As a kid in Garden City, Long Island, I was always looking for more stuff. I remember getting one of those big stockings, made with orange netting. An old-fashioned – depending on how old you are – prefabricated Christmas stocking with all kinds of stuff in it – little Chinese games, and cheap, insignificant toys and all sorts of junk. The stinky part was that you got a lot of "useful" things in your stocking – Scotch tape, and stamps, and a pencil sharpener – things that you supposedly needed. And you got your yearly slippers. There were four kids, and everybody had our own pile under the tree, and I would always go look to make sure that my pile was bigger. I remember one year when I took all of my stuff down to the basement, to the big ping-pong table, and I spread everything I got all over the table, to make it look like I had the most stuff – it was ridiculous. I was so busy comparing what I got with the other kids. I am very different than this now – I am so far removed from things. But back then, as a kid, I equated all of that with love. If you had more stuff, you had more love. I was just part of a whole world that was looking for that perfect Christmas – like when people look for love, and it’s never like they think it is, or like they tell you on television, or any of that stuff. You just kept waiting for it to be that incredible thing.

Baby Jane Dexter’s most recent CD is Big, Bad and Blue – Live! (Quannacut). Visit her official website.

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – I like I Wonder As I Wander – I love that song – and also Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and We Three Kings.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – Nat King Cole! Nat King Cole! Well, that’s just it for me. I just love Nat King Cole, period. He had the warmth, at any time of the year, and around Christmas time that’s especially what you’re looking for. I met his wife, after he had passed away, and she said, "Oh, Nat would have loved you!" That is such a compliment. I like Tony Bennett’s Christmas album – I love his voice. As far as Christmas recordings that are rather recent, I’d choose the one by Take Six. I do listen to that.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – When I was a little girl here in Baltimore, my brother got for Christmas the American Flyer red wagon. And I placed my beautiful doll-baby into his wagon, and he went so fast up the street with that wagon, my doll-baby fell out and cracked her head! That was a terrible Christmas for me – I was so angry with him! This was, oh my God, I had to be about eight or nine years old. My parents tried to make it better, but what are you going to do with a broken head? [laughs] That I remember, and I still bring it up to my brother today, and he just laughs. I mention it every Christmas, and he’s so tired of hearing about it!

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – I was in a Catholic choir when I was young and the song that I really liked to sing with it was Silent Night. I have to be honest with you and tell you that I'm really not a fan of commercial Christmas music. Most of it seems so out of keeping with the real meaning of Christmas: Christ's birth and goodwill toward your fellow man. Anyway, by my calculations Jesus was born in the fall and not in the winter. So fall is really the time that I celebrate Christmas to the extent that I do. I guess you must think I'm a very strange person, but that's just the way that I feel.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – I do like songs about winter, snow, the cold. Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! That's a nice one. But no particular recordings come to mind. If I'm in a club and someone just has to hear a Christmas song then that's what I'll sing: The Christmas Song by Mel Tormé. In spite of the title, it seems to me more a song about winter than it is Christmas. I like to hear him sing it.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – To repeat myself, you must think that I'm a little peculiar. But I've always been realistic. When I was four or five years old and my family told me there was no Santa Claus, I knew at once that they were telling the truth. I saw the sense of that. Santa Claus couldn't come down any hot chimney. When they told me, it was no big thing. I just went off playing. They let me know because they were just too poor to buy any of us kids anything for Christmas, and they didn't want us to be disappointed. The next Christmas, though, when I was singing in that Catholic choir, the church gave all of a great big box just full of toys and gifts. I was kind of happy then. But still Christmas has always been a more spiritual time to me. I've never really connected it with gifts. I don't bother other people when they want to celebrate it. I don't put a damper on it, but it's just not me.

Francine Griffin’s most recent CD is The Song Bird (Delmark).

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas is my most favorite, most special, all-time favorite Christmas song. I also like two songs that I did on my Christmas album that were written by Gloria Coleman, who is a wonderful organist and singer. One is called It’s Christmas Time, and the other is Ring the Bells.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – Charles Brown’s Merry Christmas Baby. I love Bing Crosby’s White Christmas, and Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song. I love Perry Como’s Christmas songs too. I like the drummer, Grady Tate, singing a Hanukkah song called Happy Hanukkah, My Friend on Houston Person’s Christmas album. I love that song.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – I just like Christmas time as a rule. I love Christmas, because everyone is kind to one another, and they’re giving gifts, and it makes people happy. So Christmas is a very special time for me, wherever I am, be it in town, or out of town, or with family, or with friends. And the children love to get the gifts – that makes it even more special. I like it when people love each other, and at that time of the year, people care about each other so much more than usual – it should be Christmas every day. When my mother was alive, Christmas was extra special to me. I loved her so much. When I think of my mama around Christmas time, it always brings tears to my eyes.

Etta Jones’ most recent CD is All the Way: Etta Jones Sings Sammy Cahn (Highnote).

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – I really like to sing Silent Night. There’s a Willard Robison song that I like very much called The Christmas Spell, and Hoagy Carmichael has a wonderful song called My Christmas Song for You. I recorded a nice thing by Hugh Martin for Audiophile called It’s Christmas Time All Over the World, and it’s got a bunch of different languages – saying "Merry Christmas" in various languages.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – Christmas Is an Island by Rosemary Clooney on a Marshall Barer CD. And Be Warmer This Winter by Joyce Breach on Audiophile – a great song by Frank Underwood and Stan Freeman. And a party recording of Oh Come, All Ye Faithful by Billie Holiday – utterly simple and truthful. How could I leave out Bobby Dorough's Blue Christmas? Or Bessie Smith's At the Christmas Ball?

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – Well, Christmas, when I was really young, in Melvindale, Michigan, was just the most exciting time of the year, and yet, our family just had no money, and so we used to wait until Christmas Eve to buy the Christmas tree. We would buy it from the Boy Scouts – I think they charged 25 cents for it, because it was Christmas Eve, it was late, and they had to just get rid of their little stock – and my brother and I always insisted on having the very tallest tree. Maybe it would have only three branches on it – that’s an exaggeration – but boy, it had to be tall. Now this was in the middle of the Depression, and the great Christmas present was a wind-up Victrola. You could use steel needles with it, or cactus needles – as I say, we didn’t have any money – and we got a few old, used 78s with it. The only thing I can remember, one of the tunes was Valencia, and one was Dardanella, and I have no idea who recorded those things; they were just whatever my parents could put together. But it was a very exciting Christmas and a very exciting present.

Barbara Lea’s most recent CD is Mad About the Boy (Challenge).

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – I love Sammy Cahn’s song The Christmas Waltz. And everybody loves Bob Wells and Mel Tormé’s song: "Chestnuts roasting…" I particularly like some carols by a man named Al Burt, who was a young man – he died right after he wrote them. One is called The Star Carol. A beautiful thing. I was thinking yesterday about Irving Berlin and White Christmas. I have always thought of that song with Bing Crosby. I loved Bing so much. But yesterday I was thinking about the construction of it, and Irving Berlin’s talent for simplicity, in getting right to the point of things. When I first heard The Little Drummer Boy, I thought it was so lovely, and I recorded it while I thought that. But I don’t like it anymore.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – Nat Cole has got to be a part of Christmas. There’s such a lovely and loving quality in it, and it’s a full, round sound. It lets you picture things like green trees and white trees and Christmas decorations. I think that the images in his mind were probably very clear. And that’s communicated.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – I was living in New York in the early 1950s, using agent Tom Rockwell's duplex apartment on East 72nd while he and his wife Vivian were at their home in California… I was so lonesome for my daughter Nicki, and my maid Alice too, for that matter. I'd been doing The Steve Allen Show every early morning, singing and playing "straight girl" for Steve…I also did Songs for Sale, and I had a program for Rexall, but even all that work couldn't keep me from missing Nicki. Maybe I was saving the "family farm," but I was also running myself to the ground. At Christmas I sent for Nicki and Alice to come to New York so we could at least spend the holidays together. Down to Grand Central I went, eagerly awaiting their arrival. Everyone got off the train, but no Nicki and Alice. I panicked. Finally, with the help of the good old railroad detectives, I did manage to find them. You can’t imagine the relief to see my little girl coming up the platform. Somehow, they had managed to make the wrong connection in Chicago, but I had died a thousand deaths until I saw them. Alec Wilder, that superb composer and friend – Mabel Mercer was now singing all his songs – pitched right into the Christmas spirit and came over dragging a huge tree into the apartment as though he had just cut it down in the forest. We had heard of making snow for a tree, but, unfortunately, had the wrong method. We whipped up boxes of Ivory Snow with the Mixmaster, and, as we covered the tree, its poor limbs bent lower and lower. Finally, though, we managed to finish it and turn on the lights! Seeing Nicki again was worth everything, including staying up 24 hours, if necessary. I actually fell asleep in a chair in Hammacher Schlemmer, sitting straight up in the middle of the Christmas rush. They only woke me up in time for closing. Never mind. We did all the trimmings. Alice cooked a fantastically succulent goose. Alec joined us for Christmas eve and day. And Nicki loved the idea of snow for Christmas! It really was a lovely Christmas.

Peggy Lee’s most recent CD is Moments Like This (Chesky). Her Capitol albums reissued this year include Pretty Eyes, Guitars ala Lee, In Love Again!, and In the Name of Love (EMI); Blues Cross Country (Capitol Jazz); and Bewitching-Lee (DCC); as well as a 2-CD compilation of her complete studio recordings with Benny Goodman (Columbia-Legacy). Visit a fan’s website.

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – A Christmas Love Song by Johnny Mandel and Marilyn and Alan Bergman; Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas; It's Christmas Morning by Duncan Lamont.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – I like the Christmas CD of Take Six called He Is Christmas – I am sure there are others, but that one comes to mind first, for some reason.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – My most rewarding Christmas was two years ago when my dad was at the Kessler Institute in New Jersey for a spinal cord injury. He was there for six months after facing paralysis from the neck down. This was especially heart-breaking because he was such a wonderful pianist, and he had little or no use of his hands. Following a very complex and extensive surgery at 82 years of age, he spent months in difficult daily therapy, determined to recover and make his daughters proud. Holiday season arrived and we had our family Christmas at the hospital with my dad and many other desperately ill patients of all ages. As we sat at the holiday dinner table, in a room filled with wheelchairs and casts, and all kinds of apparatus, my dad fed himself for the first time in many, many months. My father's effort, the marvelous team of doctors, nurses and therapists, and our support had brought my family to this moment and taught all of us what the priorities really are in this life. The same doctors, nurses and physical therapists who cared for the patients every other day of the year brought their children and spouses to help on this special day as well – I have never felt such a closeness and unity, nor such a sense of spirituality with so many relative strangers before or since. It is burned in my heart and has permanently changed the way I live my life all year 'round.

Nancy Marano’s most recent CD is If You Could See Us Now (Koch).

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – My favorite song to sing is I'll Be Home for Christmas. The sweet sadness of the lyric always draws me in. I also really like singing carols with a group of people of all ages around a piano, or a cappella.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – My favorite "classic" Christmas albums are those by Frank Sinatra and Nat Cole. There are also beautiful Christmas CDs by Ray Charles and Harry Belafonte. Christmas with Louis Armstrong and Friends is great too. Of the more recent albums in a classic mode, I love The Manhattan Transfer Christmas Album, which has the best version ever of Let It Snow. I also find I like to listen to A Concord Jazz Christmas (of course!), The Best of Cool Yule (Rhino, of course) and the offbeat sound of The Roches' We Three Kings. I also really like to play the Golden Gate Quartet.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – My most musically memorable Christmas took place in London, where I first started singing professionally, about 25 years ago. On Christmas day I sang at a senior citizens' center where seniors in need were given a free Christmas dinner and entertainment. I was really moved at how much having live music meant to them. And I was especially touched by a young blind pianist who turned up to play. He was just made of music – he knew every song in every key, and obviously loved to play. After he accompanied me singing carols and standards from the Thirties and Forties, he played dozens of hit songs from an earlier era, the time of their youth. The seniors just loved it, and the pianist was full of joy because he made them so happy. He had a wonderful spirit, and so much talent and knowledge of songs, that I will never forget him, or that day.

Susannah McCorkle’s most recent CD is From Broken Hearts to Blue Skies (Concord Jazz). Visit her official website.

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – Most of the audiences I encounter are of varying faiths, so in performance I prefer to keep the songs seasonal rather than religious. In addition, I feel religious songs are out of place in a nightclub. The Christmas Song and The Christmas Waltz are the only two I include in performance.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – These two Christmas songs, recorded by Nat Cole and Frank Sinatra, respectively, have been the most meaningful. They seem to be for everybody to enjoy regardless of religious or other persuasions – and isn't that what it's supposed to be about? One Christmas album I enjoy is Christmas with Julie Andrews – it’s full of traditional songs, and it’s a must for those who view Christmas as a gentle, reflective time of year. The arrangements by Ian Frasier enhance both the songs and the singer by bringing a freshness to familiar melodies. Then there’s an album simply called Christmas by The Singers Unlimited. There is a particular purity and perfection in performance to be found here. Many of the carols were too seldom heard before this album, but they’re happily creeping into greater popularity in recent years. All of the vocal arrangements are superb, including those by Gene Puerling, who continues to uphold his reputation as the premier vocal arranger of all time. This CD sets the mood of Christmas for me year after year. I play it endlessly throughout the season.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – I've witnessed so many Christmases that it's impossible to pinpoint just one, but this one evokes a few inner smiles. Our son was in grade school the year the Chicago Board of Education elected to remove music and art from the curriculum. I felt devastated and powerless. My only means of protest was to volunteer to go to the school two days a week and reinstate those subjects on my own. My offer was gratefully accepted by the principal who agreed that these two subjects were essential to a well-rounded education. We struggled along for the first few months, trying to overcome the students' innate shyness. All too soon, the event of the year loomed before us – The Christmas Assembly! With much trepidation I decided our piece de resistance would be singing in parts, however simple. I divided the grades into three and we tackled Carol of the Bells. After each group learning the song separately came the day of reckoning – putting it together as a round. Disaster, despair and despondency to the point that with only a few days remaining I entertained a few thoughts of audience participation – Jingle Bells. The day before the assembly, I appeared and announced that this was our last chance. Off we went. Behold, a choir of angels! Each group was proudly singing their part with great spirit (or perhaps competition, but they were singing out and loving it). They were even better the next day at the assembly. I consider that one of my favorite Christmas gifts and I often hope that even one of that exuberant choir may feel they received a small gift from me.

Ruth Olay

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – I've only sung one Christmas song in all the years that I've performed, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas because it's very melodic. And people in clubs ask for holiday music. Outside of The Christmas Song by Tormé and Wells, I'm not much of a fan of Christmas music per se.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – Nat Cole's Christmas album.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – [laughs] Last year I took a cruise to the Orient to avoid Christmas.

None of Ruth Olay’s many recordings are currently available on CD. Two of her more recent albums, Ruth Olay and Friends and Sings Jazz Today, are available on LP from Laurel Records; 2451 Nichols Canyon; Los Angeles, CA 90046.

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – My favorite to sing is The Christmas Song. I have quite a few other favorites – The Little Drummer Boy, Do You Hear What I Hear?, Silver Bells, and a song called Christmas Bells, which I sang on my second Christmas album, for Columbia. I also like the song Happy Birthday Jesus (A Child’s Prayer), which I also sang on that album. We recorded that album in Las Vegas with Don Costa, and we had a lot of kids there singing with us too. It’s a good album – I get a lot of comments about that.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – The Christmas Song sung by Nat Cole is one of my favorite recordings, although I like the way that Mel Tormé sang it too. I love one of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s Christmas albums – I don’t know if it’s their first, second or third, but it’s the first one I ever bought – because it’s just so ethereal for me and so Christmassy. I like Bing Crosby’s Christmas records, and Louis Armstrong’s. Ella Fitzgerald is one of my favorite singers, so I love anything she did, including her Christmas records. The same is true for Frank Sinatra, and Peggy Lee – both such marvelous singers – definitely put them down too. I love all of these talented people, at Christmas or at any time of the year.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – I think it was the first Christmas with my daughter, after my husband and I adopted her in October of 1962. We adopted her in Arkansas – she was just three days old – and we brought her home to our house in Beverly Hills. It was just a beautiful, beautiful Christmas, and a year-and-a-half later we adopted a little boy, and so the Christmas of 1964 was also a memorable one. Our Christmases during those years were unbelievable. I used to have a party on Christmas day for all the stray friends that were in California over the holidays, and some of those that had relocated in California from New York or back East somewhere – people in the business that I had really kind of grown up with. So the big party on Christmas day included all the families, all the children, and there were always presents for everybody, and it was such a nice time. We were always at someone else’s party on Christmas Eve, and then we’d come home, stay up all night and put the toys together before Christmas morning. Christmas is very important to me, and those were especially great times. Christmases during my childhood in Oklahoma were also beautiful times – the family was all together, and we were very close. But my father was so poor, and I never really got my own doll. When I was maybe eight or nine, I finally got a doll, but it was to be shared with my two sisters, one older and one younger. And so I never really got that doll – one of my sisters took it with her when we grew up! [laughs]

Patti Page’s most recent CD is her Grammy-winning Live from Carnegie Hall: The 50th Anniversary Concert (DRG). Earlier this year, Verve reissued her 1956 Mercury-EmArcy album, In the Land of Hi-Fi. Visit her official website.

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – My favorite Christmas song to sing is The Christmas Waltz. Frank Sinatra and Karen Carpenter recorded it – as I'm sure others did – but if I'm singing somewhere around Christmas, it's my favorite.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – Most all the songs we play at Christmas are instrumentals. Also, we love Take Six, and Ralph Carmichael's "swing" Big Band Christmas Carols, and the Carpenters album they made many years ago.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – It was many years ago – I think I was 18 or 19 – when I first started to tour. I was finally making money, and it was the most wonderful fun to shop with the snow falling in Spokane, Washington and be able to buy perfect gifts (expensive, too) for my whole family and try to bring them all back to L.A. Everything I had chosen made everyone so happy – especially my Dad – so that made me feel so very wonderful and proud.

Sue Raney’s most recent CD is Autumn in the Air (Fresh Sounds).

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by my friend Hugh Martin – a beautiful song, introduced by Judy Garland in Meet Me in St. Louis – and of course The Christmas Song. I love Dave Lambert’s Deck Us All with Boston Charlie – that has to be on the list. It’s the only Christmas song I’ve ever recorded. I also love God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen – especially if you’re tired. [laughs]

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – I’d choose the Nutcracker Suite by Duke Ellington and his band – I love everything about it, The Dance of Sugar Plum Fairies, just everything about it is magnificent. It’s a jazz version of The Nutcracker, and the more you listen to it, the more you discover. It’s everything by Tchaikovsky – the whole score, verbatim – but it’s rearranged and voiced so magnificently by Ellington. I like Christmas recordings by some opera singers, like Kathleen Battle and Kiri te Kanawa, and I like the King’s Singers’ Christmas album.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – Well, they’re all memorable, for one reason or another, but there’s one that was especially so. Sometime in the 1980s, I spent one Christmas in a village up in Loch Rannoch, in Scotland. It was on a lake, and I went up to visit some friends, and the lake froze, and we were snowbound for three weeks. We ran out of food, and the only way anything could be delivered was on skis, or on a mountain bike or a tractor. We decided we would invite whoever could get there, like shepherds, and farmers, etc., to come by whatever means and bring us something to eat. One of the forest rangers shot a stag, which he was entitled to do, and left it on the back porch for us. I skinned it, and butchered it, and made venison stew. Yes, this really happened. I had skinned rabbits before, sure, but butchering a stag? As I was doing it, I thought, "This must be what it feels like to be a mass murderer." [laughs] We ran out of heat – it was oil heat. We had fireplaces, but we were up on the roads to the highlands, and the houses were made of very thick stone, which made it so much colder, and the bed-linens were real linen, so it was really cold. So we had to drink a lot of whisky, which was delivered to us on skis. We all had great senses of humor, and so we just had a ball. We rolled with it.

Annie Ross’ most recent CD is Music Is Forever (DRG). Her ongoing tour with Jon Hendricks continues into 2000.

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – I like Leroy Anderson, and I always love to sing his Sleigh Ride. It’s really upbeat, and I think it kind of captures the spirit of the holiday season – you know, it doesn’t always have to be "chestnuts roasting on an open fire," and it’s a real Currier and Ives type Christmas song. The lyric was by Mitchell Parrish, who I got to know a little bit in his twilight years. It seems to be infectious – people just brighten up when they hear it. I’m probably one of the few people who will admit to singing Jingle Bell Rock [laughs] – it’s kind of fun, and people just love the beat. Another favorite song is Jerry Herman’s song We Need a Little Christmas, from Mame. You don’t even need to sing it around Christmas; the message is "I need that spirit, I need some light in my life, I need some time to be reflective." Am I your "token Jew" for these interviews? [laughs] In all honesty, I don’t have an extensive collection of Hanukkah recordings, so I can’t really recommend any specific Hanukkah songs. But it’s interesting that so many of the more popular Christmas songs – not the religious ones, obviously – were written by Jews, from Mel Tormé, to Irving Berlin, of course, to Jerry Herman, to Sammy Cahn, who wrote The Christmas Waltz, to Johnny Marks, who wrote Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. So we’re in there.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – I love a Frank Sinatra recording called Mistletoe and Holly, which he actually had a hand in writing – I like singing that one too. I like Ella’s recording of Sleigh Ride. It’s not a Christmas album, but I love one of Joe Williams’ later CDs called Here’s to Life. He sings the title song twice on it, first with Robert Farnon’s orchestra, with an arrangement that’s gorgeous, and at the end of the album I believe he sings it with just piano. I happen to love Joe Williams, and for some reason, particularly around holiday time, I play that album – and I often buy it for friends of mine. Naturally, there’s Nat Cole’s Christmas album. Another favorite Christmas album is by the wonderful, lyrical, revered jazz pianist Dave McKenna, called Christmas Ivory, which came out about two years ago on Concord. I play that one all the time. Dave sings through his fingers.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – It was my first year in New York City, probably 1974 or 1975 – I had just moved to New York from Rhode Island, and I had a jazz trio at a supper club called Jimmy Weston’s. It was the week before Christmas, and the owner, Jimmy Weston, sends a message to me and says, "Keely Smith is in the audience. Bring her up." And I had never done anything like that before. So I called her up, and she was very complimentary, and then she called I’ll Be Home for Christmas. I don’t think I had ever played it before, and I had a very young rhythm section – I was all of 23 or 24 at the most, and they were younger than I was. They had barely heard of her, but I was absolutely thrilled to have Keely Smith up there. She mentioned that it was her favorite Christmas song, and somehow we managed to get through it, and it wasn’t a train wreck, and she was very kind. That was a thrill for me to be able to play that song for her. It made me learn it, and now I always do it in A-flat, just because she did it in A-flat.

Daryl Sherman’s most recent CD is A Lady Must Live (After Nine). Visit her official website.

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – My favorite Christmas song of all is Silent Night. You can do so much with it on the piano. I've been playing in churches all my life. I'm a preacher's kid, so I've always loved Christmas music. As for secular music, my favorite of all is The Christmas Waltz. I've loved that for years and years. It's so much fun to play.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – Again, The Christmas Waltz. I'm not the world's biggest Sinatra fan, but I love his recording of that song. The first time I heard it, it just grabbed me. Almost any recording of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas is to my taste.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – In 1982, when I moved back to California, that was the Christmas when great numbers of my family came out to California and we all got together to spend Christmas – my mother, nephews, uncles. I don't have a lot of great memories of Christmas with my family as a kid in Illinois. But this kind of made up for it

Carole Simpson's most recent CD is Carole Simpson: Remembering (Raven).

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – My very favorite seasonal song to sing is White Christmas because of the incredibly vivid images of my childhood it inspires.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – When I hear Gene Autry's Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer I instantly metamorphose to my six-year-old self, perspiring in my heavy woolen coat and leggings at the Woolworth's counter. I'm gazing at the dazzling array of potential Christmas gifts I might buy with my tiny allowance, the store filled with the delicious scent of holly and apples, and the nasally twang of the old cowboy. I also like Bing Crosby's White Christmas and Nat Cole's Christmas Song.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – During the years of World War II, my Dad would drive to the U.S.O. in downtown Providence, Rhode Island and invite as many young servicemen as would fit into the car to come to our house for Christmas dinner. We shared our table with kids from every branch of the military, and Mother then wrote letters to each of them and sent packages from home until the end of the War. Those Christmases were very special to all of us, and, although one of "our" young men suffered the loss of a leg, all the others returned safely from combat, thereby answering all our prayers.

Carol Sloane’s most recent CD is Romantic Ellington (DRG). Visit her official website.

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – The Christmas Song and White Christmas. I like the songs on my own Christmas album very much. It’s a nice album, done years ago, and I like the fact that on one of the songs Louis [Prima’s] voice comes in on Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer – it’s cute, and the kids like that.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – I love Nat Cole’s version of The Christmas Song. I remember Bing Crosby’s White Christmas from when I was a child, and my grown daughters and I watch the movie White Christmas every year, so it’s really a part of our home. I like Gene Autry’s Christmas records – [laughs] – I’m a big country fan. I play an awful lot of singers around Christmas time. I listen to Nat Cole, I listen to Sinatra, and Dean Martin, and Ella – she’s my favorite singer. And the Carpenters’ Christmas album is wonderful too.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – When I was young – I’m talking about grammar school, now – in Norfolk, Virginia, we were very, very poor. My dad was a carpenter. A couple of my girlfriends were getting bicycles, and I wanted a bicycle so bad, but I knew that I’d never get one. When I got up on that Christmas morning, I found a bicycle – it was just beautiful, a blue and white Schwinn. I was a real tomboy when I was young; I played football with my brother and stuff like that, and I was forever on that bike – I hardly ever left it. I get very emotional when I tell this story – it’s amazing, and I don’t know how my parents ever managed it. I know a woman that raised ten children, and as she got older, she wanted to do things – you know, go to Bingo, or whatever – and nobody ever seemed to have the time for her. And she said, "I don’t understand. A woman can raise ten kids, but ten kids can’t help take care of one mother." I’ve always marveled at the way that they did it in those days, and I really am awed at the way that parents sacrificed to bring up their families. Another Christmas that stands out is the first Christmas that I spent with Louis, at his mother’s home in New Orleans – this was probably around 1949. We went out, and he bought an outfit for every member of the family. I don’t care if it was a two-year-old child, or a 60-year-old man. And when I say that, I meant that he bought the shoes, the socks, the underwear, the shirt, the tie, the cufflinks, the tie-pin, the jacket, the sweater, the long trousers, even down to a hat and a top-coat sometimes, for every member of the family. Everything was boxed separately and wrapped separately. And I said to him, "My God, what are you doing?" And he said, "I want everyone to have a lot of boxes to open." And do you know something? I do that to this day. You know, when I was kid, we didn’t have boxes to open. So when it came time with Louis to have everything boxed and wrapped, under the tree for the family, I just thought it was wonderful. And it’s a tradition that I still keep today.

Keely Smith is interviewed in the December issue of Vanity Fair. Her new CD, Swing, Swing, Swing, will be released by Concord in February, 2000. Visit her official website.

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – The folk song, I Wonder As I Wander; The Christmas Song; and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – Mel Tormé's own version of The Christmas Song.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – The Christmas of 1928, maybe 1929, in Long Beach, California. I wanted a certain doll. They were just starting to make dolls "lifelike." This doll cost ten dollars and, as it was the Depression, I was certain I wouldn’t get it as a present. Somehow my mother managed to raise the money and I was thrilled to receive what I wanted most. I still have the doll.

Jo Stafford’s most recent CD compilation is Happy Holidays: I Love the Winter Weather (Corinthian). Visit her official website.

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – Jingle Bells, because I get to sing with all those dear little young voices that make Christmas. And then there’s The Man with the Bag, which I love because I helped to write it, with Hal Stanley and some others, and recorded it for Capitol. It’s a silly song, but that’s Christmas – it’s happiness. Another would be Mel Tormé’s The Christmas Song, because I think it says everything there is to say about family Christmas.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – Anything by Ella Fitzgerald – if she sang it, I loved it – and Frank Sinatra.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – I’ve only owned one house in my whole life, and it’s the one I live in here in Los Angeles. And when I had my first Christmas here I knew I had a home. So I bought a house, but it didn’t feel like it was a home until I had Christmas in it. That was probably 50 years ago – it took me a long time to make up my mind to buy a house, but when I finally did, I said, "I’m gonna croak in it!" [laughs]

Kay Starr’s most recent CD compilations include The Complete Lamplighter Recordings, 1945-1946 (Baldwin Street), The RCA Years (Collectors’ Choice), and The Essential RCA Singles Collection (Taragon). Visit a fan’s website.

Marlene VerPlanck’s most recent CDs are What Are We Going to Do with All This Moonlight? and A Warmer Place (Audiophile). Visit her official website.

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – Off the top of my head, Mel Tormé’s Christmas Song is my favorite, of course. White Christmas, I adore. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – I love that one too.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – Perry Como. He sang White Christmas beautifully. Spike Jones. Do you remember Spike Jones? You know, he made all those noises, but it was a very musical band. He had a smash record with All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth – that was a novelty – you know, we used to call those novelty songs. In terms of Christmas albums, I love Ella’s, I love Nat King Cole’s, and I love Sinatra’s, and I love Peggy’s. How can you say which one of those people that you love the most? They were all great interpreters, so you’re gonna have to write down all four of them.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – I went to Germany in 1950-something to entertain the American troops that were stationed there on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. We stayed in Weisbaden, a city famous for its baths in its heyday. On New Year’s Eve I was standing on the stage, and there were almost a thousand sailors out there, and they were fighting. And I turned around to my music conductor, and I said, "What should I do?" He said, "Keep singing, honey." They had to call the Marines in to break it up. My conductor was a great trumpet player – his name was Joe Cabot. The band was very good – there were about twelve guys, and there were some Swedish musicians in there, come to think of it. It was a variety show – we performed along with The Ink Spots, and there were some marvelous English tap dancers too. The show was so appreciated, so it was very satisfying – that one I really remember. Another Christmas I recall was also with a band, singing with Claude Thornhill, around 1946 or 1947. We were in a bus, and we were down South. We pulled up to a diner, we had our Christmas dinner, and there was a place that sold Christmas trees right near there. So two of the guys and I bought a Christmas tree, and set it up right in the middle of the bus. While we were traveling, everyone was kind of down, so that’s what inspired us. We put some stuff on it – we put some silver on there, but no balls. When the guys started pouring into the bus it was dark. Then Claude told the bus driver, "Turn the lights on!" and everyone flipped out when they saw it. It was a big tree – getting it into the bus was no problem, but getting it out was the worst! Traveling in the Big Band era was very different – we were all younger, so we didn’t mind the bumps and grinds so much. And there are moments that you never forget.

Fran Warren’s most recent CD reissue is Hey There! Here’s Fran Warren! (Simitar).

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – The Christmas Waltz, Silver Bells, and Silent Night.

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – One record I especially love is Judy Garland singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. It was written for her, and she put more heart into it than anyone else. I really like Ella Fitzgerald’s recording of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on her Christmas album from Verve – that’s so fun. And Frank Sinatra’s version of The Christmas Waltz. I love Barbra Streisand’s Christmas album. I also enjoy a newer album called A Cabaret Christmas, on DRG, which has some wonderful recordings by younger singers like Mary Cleere Haran and Ann Hampton Callaway. I sing on that too – The Christmas Waltz.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – In the late 1940s or early 1950s, I think, a friend of mine, Sonny Burke, who was a composer and orchestrator, had a young son who was quite ill. One year we were at Les Brown’s house, and there were a couple of musicians there, and we sat around the pool and sang Christmas songs in the middle of a very hot July. And we said, "Wouldn’t it be a wonderful idea if we all did this again around Christmas?" Soon after that Sonny’s boy died, and then we had a purpose. So we got about 30 people, with many singers – Doris Day sang with us one point, and Peggy Lee, and Nat Cole, and Jo Stafford, and a bunch of other musicians, and arrangers like Axel Stordahl and Les Brown, and all sorts of Hollywood people – and we called ourselves The Voices of Christmas. We dedicated everything we did to Sonny Burke’s child – the hospital he had been in didn’t have the equipment that might have saved his heart and his life – and we raised so much money to buy hospital equipment. So the first Christmas we got together, we hired a bus, and we stopped by Bob Hope’s house, we stopped by Bing Crosby’s house, and we went to three hospitals. We’d knock at the door and we’d sing, "Heigh-ho, anybody here?" And they’d open the door, and we’d all walk in, dressed in mufflers and little hats – we were all dressed up for Christmas. Then we finally decided to go to the Beverly Hills Hotel, and this went on for several years, singing at hospitals, and singing at parties, until we decided that The Voices of Christmas should be an annual charity party in the Beverly Hills Hotel’s dining room. People would pay $100 a seat, which was quite a lot back then. We had a different narrator every year – Nat Cole, Les Brown, Reginald Owen, and others. This tradition went on for many years, and I think they’re still doing it, still with Les Brown and his band. That to me was the happiest time. Our reputation was tremendous, we had such great fun performing together, we raised an awful lot of money for the hospitals, and we helped a lot of people. What more could you want for Christmas?

Margaret Whiting’s most recent recording is Now and Then (DRG). Her 1999 reissues include Margaret Whiting Sings the Jerome Kern Song Book (Polydor-Japan) and The Complete Capitol Hits of Margaret Whiting (Collectors’ Choice).

Which Christmas songs do you most like to sing? – I believe that songs often become favorites in the context of when and where you first hear them. One Christmas, sometime in the 1960s, when I was a single mom and poor as a church-mouse, my former mother-in-law sent a five-dollar bill in a Christmas card addressed to my daughter, Lisa. We decided that we wanted to use it to purchase some holiday music. Down to the record store we went, and we emerged with A Jolly Christmas by Frank Sinatra. The album gave us much joy that year, and for many years after that. My favorite song was The Christmas Waltz by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn, for this reason: At the end of the tune, the chorus trilled a few bars of "Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas," etc., to which Frank responded with "Merry Christmas," which he spoke. Well, we never disappointed him, as year after year, Christmas after Christmas, my whole family would reply, "Merry Christmas, Frank." And we still do!

Which Christmas recordings by others do you most admire? – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, as sung by Judy Garland in Meet Me In St. Louis, has always been a favorite of mine. I remember clearly how moved I was when big sister Judy sang it to little sister Margaret O'Brien in the backyard of their St. Louis home. This is a bittersweet Christmas song that never failed to tug at my heartstrings. I love the Peggy Lee Christmas album, especially The Christmas Waltz. Nat Cole's Christmas Song, is, to me, the best version ever. A new favorite is the Christmas album by the Manhattan Transfer, with orchestral arrangements by Johnny Mandel. Gorgeous music: Snowfall, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!, Happy Holidays, and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas are some of the best.

Can you describe one particularly memorable Christmas? – My father died when I was eight months old, and I don't remember him at all. Mother and I moved in with Grandma and Grandpa, and Mother became the breadwinner of the family. A new friend entered her life when I was almost five, and he became a true friend to me. He loved music, and taught himself to play several instruments, including the piano – on the black keys! When he asked me if I would like him to be my daddy, to say that I was delighted would be an understatement. Mom married "Daddy Alden," and we moved into our own little house in LaPorte, Indiana. The first Christmas there was so perfect. I had a real family, with a father who was as special to me as any birth father could be – a great Christmas gift for a six-year-old who believed in Santa Claus.

Pinky Winters’ most recent CD is This Happy Madness (Polygram-Verve).

Bill Reed (Los Angeles) interviewed Francine Griffin, Nancy Marano, Ruth Olay, Carole Simpson, Jo Stafford, and Pinky Winters. Peggy Lee’s comments were excerpted from Miss Peggy Lee: An Autobiography (Donald I. Fine, Inc., 1989), and the article "Peggy Lee: Christmas Fever" by Linda Ekblad, published in the December, 1990 issue of Interview magazine. All other interviews conducted by David Torresen (Washington, DC).

Many thanks to Jeff Austin, Richard Rodney Bennett, Leonel Escota, Suzy Frank, Michael Mascioli, Rene Paquette, Bill Reed, Steve Sando, Ivan Santiago, Joel E. Siegel, Carol Sloane, Margaret Whiting and Alfred Zelcer for their help in arranging these interviews.