25 Days of Holiday Music: Day 6

One of my favorite vocalists is Holly Cole who is very popular in Japan and in her native Canada. Cole began her music career in the mid '80s primarily as a jazz singer. Her first few albums were recorded in the trio format, specifically the Holly Cole Trio which featured Cole's voice accompanied by pianist Aaron Davis and bassist Davd Piltch. In the early 90s, Cole became a solo artist -- actually, the trio simply dropped "Trio" from the label -- and expanded her repertoire. Their first effort in this new direction was their 1993 tribute to Tom Waits, Temptation. Have I mentioned that Holly Cole and her musical partners don't write any original songs? They interpret and sometimes recreate other artists' songs, but I strongly recommend you don't write her off as a mere cover singer.

The Holly Cole Trio's first recording was their 1989 EP, Christmas Blues. It has a wonderful, jazzy cover of The Pretenders' "2,000 Miles." But today's holiday tune is "I'd Like to Hitch a Ride with Santa Claus," a fun ditty about a wish that is surely common for any fan of Santa Claus: a chance to ride in Santa's sleigh, and maybe even take the reins! "I'd Like to Hitch a Ride with Santa Claus" was written by the songwriting team of Burke and Van Heusen who cranked out a slew of hits in the late 1930s and 1940s. I couldn't find a video on YouTube or DailyMotion, so I created my own. Er, well, I slapped the mp3 file together with still frame capture image and exported the combo to a format that YouTube would accept. That's the effort I go through for you here during #25Days!

I hope you enjoy the song...