JAZZ YULE DIG!

---

   These days it seems like everyone has a holiday record... it's as if making one is a rite of passage. I'm proud to say that in 2020, a year with so many low moments - Gary, Alex and I can finally say we've joined the ranks of those "truly in the spirit of the season."     

   This trio has been performing together for few years now at the world renown Langham Hotel in Pasadena for their famous Thanksgiving and Christmas brunches. It's always a fun gig. The brunch is unbelievable; giant toy soldiers, carving stations with all the trimmings, ice sculptures, fondue fountains, and everyone dressed in their holiday best, really is a sight to behold. We set up in  the middle of the ballroom and play jazz standards all afternoon. We also, of course, play holiday music.     

   Jazz music is a language, and when the musicians that get together share a dialect within that language, it can make it easy to sound like they've been playing together 5 nights a week for 20 years. That's what happened here, and it made this record date, a fun one. We recorded this entire record in about an hour and 20 minutes, complete with breaks and a few (very few) second takes.     

   What you have here is a peek into three friends getting together and capturing something that always makes the season come alive for us. We hope you enjoy it!

Charles Ruggiero - Christmas 2020