There are about as many ways to celebrate Christmas as there are living rooms, but one of the vital strands that connects each of those living rooms is music. From time-honored traditional carols to the countless new songs written over the past century, Christmas music has become a tradition unto itself, bringing friends and families together year after year to sing a-long and remember when...
When it comes to music from the era of the Great American Songbook, no songs get more airplay than Christmas songs. It's more likely that the average person will have a recording of Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, or Bing Crosby singing Christmas songs like "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas", "Jingle Bells", or "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" than any other. And while new Christmas music is written every year, many of the Christmas "standards" that have become an integral part of each years celebration and tradition were written in the '40s and '50s. The relationship between the songbook standard and many of the Christmas standards are so remarkably similar that it is no surprise that they share many of the same composers, lyricists, and arrangers.
And while the tradition of Christmas carols goes back as far as the 13th century, people still gather together to sing "O Come All Ye Faithful", "The First Noel", and "Silent Night". Whether you celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday or observe it in your own way, the music continues to bind us together.
Join Shirley Andress, Vicki Brabham, Bill Hulings, Michael Stone and original Jazz King Bob Cross for our first annual “Christmas at the Shedd” -- an evening of great music, like "I’ll Be Home For Christmas", "Sleigh Ride", and "White Christmas", and a chance to look back at the songs that we all share. Come in, sit by the warm fire and remember with us because…baby, it’s cold outside.