I’m a choral singer, so much of my seasonal listening is sacred music. I had sabbaticals in Oxford and Cambridge and haunted the college chapels to hear the choristers, although I was never there for Christmas.

Having said that, I’m still all over a good Christmas album of pop or jazz. Pretty much everyone does a Christmas album (even Bob Dylan), but most of them are not great, but some are.

So, here’s a list of some of my favorites in no particular order.

“An Oscar Peterson Christmas” (1995) This is my favorite jazz Christmas album by my favorite jazz pianist. If you don’t know this album you’re in for a treat.

“Merry Christmas” (White Christmas) by Bing Crosby”(1945) This album was for many decades the best-selling album of all time (I think Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” may have passed it in sales.) My mother loved Bing, and this was one of the only LP’s my family had when I was a kid. A classic.

“December” by George Winston. The many Windham Hill seasonal recordings were the soundtrack for many of our Christmases. This is one of the best of the bunch.

“Christmas Songs” by Diana Krall. This is a delightful jazzy album with Krall’s great piano and voice. She is backed by the Clayton–Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. John Bungey of The Times snarkily wrote, “If your idea of a perfect Yuletide is Jimmy Stewart on the telly and Bing on the radio, and you believe that, musically, it’s all been downhill since 1955, then Krall’s album will suit perfectly” I guess I’m the target audience!

“Wintersong” by Sarah McLachlan (2006). Here’s another Canadian artist with a great Christmas album. It included 11 new recordings, featuring covers of Joni Mitchell’s “River”, Gordon Lightfoot’s “Song for a Winter’s Night”, and John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”, which she recorded with her outreach children and youth choir, and seasonal favorites: “Christmas Time Is Here”, “O Little Town of Bethlehem”, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, “Silent Night”, “The First Noel”, and “Greensleeves (What Child Is This?)”, among others.

“Come Darkness Come Light: Twelve Songs of Christmas” by Mary Chapin Carpenter (2008). This is a bit of a sleeper, but an album I keep coming back to. It’s a spare acoustic album with six songs she wrote herself, and several rare holiday songs. I love this album.

“James Taylor at Christmas” (2006) James Taylor is a fixture here in the Berkshires and this is a good Christmas album, with James’ lovely voice singing old favorites. It was reissued in 2012 with a stirring version of George Harrison’s “Here Comes the Sun” featuring Yo-Yo Ma on cello.

“Light of the Stable” by Emmylou Harris (1979). This lovely album has gone through many iterations, but holds its own through the years. It doesn’t hurt that Emmylou had back-up vocals by Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Neil Young with Ricky Skaggs playing banjo, mandolin, violin, acoustic guitar.

“Holly and Ivy” by Natalie Cole. I was on a committee that brought Natalie Cole here to Pittsfield back in the 1980’s and her performance knocked me out. Her Christmas album is 11 covers of Christmas songs and an original song. She said the inspiration for this album came from her father’s iconic album “The Magic of Christmas” (1960). That’s another good album worth listening to.

I have others, but this is enough for one post. Enjoy listening and have a Merry Christmas!