8 hours ago4 min read

Merry Christmas, Baby!

Seasons greetings from The Band of Other Brothers (and others)

It’s time once again to roll out perennial favorites like Freddie King’s “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’,” James Brown’s “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto,” Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers’ “Merry Christmas, Baby,” Mabel Scott’s “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus” and Babs Gonzalez’s “Bebop Santa.”

But something new and refreshing came my way this year in the form of This Year at Christmas by Band of Other Brothers (though they prefer to be called by the acronym BOOB). Hailing from New York City, Nashville and Southern California, these ubiquitous studio musicians and world-class players put the fun in funk while raising smiles in concert and on record. Not to be confused with the Steven Spielberg-Tom Hanks miniseries from 2001, Band of Brothers, or the 2014 Willie Nelson album of the same name, this group of kindred musical spirits features bassist-singer Will Lee (former member of Dreams, Brecker Brothers Band and a member of the house band on the popular David Letterman Show for over three decades), multi-reedman Jeff Coffin (Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, Dave Matthews Band and various incarnations of his Mu’tet), drummer Keith Carlock Drummer Keith Carlock, who has been touring with Steely Dan since 2003 while also doing yeoman-like session work in both New York and Nashville studios for such musical luminaries as John Mayer, Bootsy Collins, Christopher Cross, Mike Stern, Oz Noy, Wayne Krantz and Robben Ford, keyboardist Jeff Babko (who has played with James Taylor, Toto, Simon Phillips and has done countless L.A. sessions) and guitarist Nir Felder, a rising star on the NYC scene who has gigged and recorded with Esperanza Spalding, Terri Lyne Carrington, Jack DeJohnette, Greg Osby, Eric Harland, Keyon Harrold and Meshell Ndegeocello, among others.

Their third outing — following 2016’s City of Cranes and 2021’s Look Up! — finds them spreading a bit of holiday cheer on This Year at Christmas, which ranges from a Trane-inspired 6/8 reading of the 1948 holiday song “Sleigh Ride,” to the poignant power ballad “Christmas Comin’ On,” underscored by Babko’s Hammond B-3 organ and a three-piece string section, and a funkified rendition of “Silent Night” that has Coffin carrying the melody on flute and Babko taking it to church on B-3 while funking up the joint on clavinet. This stretching vehicle runs over nine minutes, showcasing extended solos by Babko on organ, Coffin on soprano sax and Felder on guitar along the way.

Ben Sidran also guests on a treatment of Bob Dorough’s “Blue Xmas (To Whom It May Concern), affecting Dorough’s own idiosyncratic delivery from the 1962 original recorded with a septet led by Miles Davis. And their revved up rendition of “Little Drummer Boy” is more drum ’n’ bass than pa rum pum pum pum, thanks to Carlock’s super-uptempo groove. Coffin plays a variety of flutes, whistles and tarogato over the top on this modernist rendition of that Christmas classic while Carlock and Lee cook underneath.

“Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” is re-imagined as a Bootsy Collins-styled funk jam, with Will singing while laying down the heavy bass bottom against Carlock’s slamming backbeat. Felder funks up the joint on chankin’ rhythm guitar while Babko alternates between vocoder and sanctified B-3 wailing. And catch the direct quote from the bass break on Curtis Mayfield’s “Freddie’s Dead” playfully insinuated into the proceedings. This tune bears the acknowledgment: “With nods of respect to James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, Cameo, Bootsy Collins.”

“The Holly and the Ivy,” a traditional British folk Christmas carol, is a showcase for Felder’s blues-based licks and Lee’s sonorous fretless bass soloing. Coffin also turns in potent tenor solo on this inspired recreation of an early 20th century classic. Will returns on some pleading vocals for Babko’s soulful lament, “Christmas Ain’t Christmas.” Coffin digs deep on tenor here, summoning up some urgent Big Nick Nicholas licks while a string sections provides some sweet background seasoning. Guitarist Felder is showcased on an instrumental version of Frank Loesser’s 1947 holiday nugget, “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” Babko, who arranged this swinging, syncopated rendition, delivers a killer organ solo while Coffin also turns in more robust tenor work. Powerhouse singer Lucy Woodward joins Will for some potent vocal harmonies on Coffin’s soul-stirring title track.

But the tune that turned my head the most on It’s Christmas Again is BOOB’s radical re-imagining of “Good King Wenceslas,” which has more in common with the Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows” than the original Victorian Christmas carol, replete with tamboura drone, sitar and backwards effects. Guitarist Felder also stretches on this far-out, Eastern-influenced version of the tune which the Beatles also happened to cover on their 1963 Christmas album that went out to members of their official fan clubs in the U.K. and U.S.

And now dig these multiple versions of “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town,” a Christmas classic written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie in 1934 that has been covered by everyone from Eddie Cantor, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire to Bruce Springsteen, The Pointer Sisters and Lady Gaga. But I’m loving these two versions by guitar great Pat Martino, first with organist Don Patterson from a 1965 Prestige recording called Holiday Soul, the second a more relaxed version from a 1997 Blue Note compilation called Yule Be Boppin’.

And no Christmas playlist would be complete without a few tracks from pianist Dave McKenna. Here’s three from his 1997 Concord album, Christmas Ivory (later reissued as Christmas Party: Holiday Piano Spike with Swing). Note the driving left hand on these tracks, a McKenna signature.