Happy Holidays from the team at NYS Music! We hope you enjoy the time with family, friends and colleagues, and stay safe throughout the season.
photo by Steve Malinski
The curveball of the past few weeks has led to music plans being scuttled for the safety of small gatherings.
photo by Zach Culver
Even though shows and events have been cancelled across the Empire State and eastern half of the country, we hope this season brings joy and merriment to those closest to you, as we prepare for a winter thaw in 2022.
photo by Steve Malinski
Our gift to you is a selection of Christmas songs from musicians across the Empire State, and over the years. No matter where or how you celebrate, Happy Holidays from the team at NYS Music!
And of course, the classic performances of Darlene Love on Late Show with David Letterman
From 1986 until 2014, David Letterman would close out his final show of the year with a Christmas episode that featured the one and only Darlene Love. Over the span of those 28 years, Love would perform her holiday hit “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” one of Letterman’s favorites.
The appearance found its origins after Letterman saw Love perform the song at the Bottom Line, in a show called Leader of the Pack. He immediately had to have her on the show. Love told Variety in 2014:
He had David [were] down to see the show. [Letterman] said, “You know that song that girl sings? That Christmas song? That’s the greatest Christmas song I’ve ever heard. We need to get her on the show.” That was 1986, and so I’ve been doing it ever since.
The tradition spanned two networks over nearly three decades, appearing from 1986 until 1993 on Late Night with David Letterman, and later on the Late Show with David Letterman when Letterman joined CBS.
The song was originally recorded for the 1963 Phil Spector album A Christmas Gift for You, and while Love performed the song on Letterman’s shows, she told the New York Times in 2014 that she will not sing it for any other TV talk-show hosts moving forward.
For her final performance, the Late Show paid tribute to Darlene Love. Following her brief interview with Dave, the stage filled in with additional musician, including string and horn sections and several backup singers. These singers would not overshadow Love’s powerful voice, and sang her final last verse from the top of Paul Shaffer’s piano, with fake snow falling around her.
Recently, an animated version of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” has been released through Legacy Recordings. The short video follows a young Black girl as she walks home through a snowy neighborhood, accompanied by a happy snowman. Along the way, she stops to admire a Christmas tree and runs into her dog, who is singing along with a pair of carolers. The girl and her dog arrive home, where they are lovingly greeted by her parents. As the video nears its end, the girl opens up one of her presents to find a snow globe with the smiling snowman inside.
At the end of the music video, Love posted a message paying tribute to her late sister, Edna Wright Perry, who sang backing vocals on the track.
Featured on the show prior to Love’s show-stopping performance, Letterman annually welcomed comedian Jay Thomas, to share, as Letterman put it, “the best story I’ve ever heard.” Thomas would then launch into his true story about an encounter with Clayton Moore, the actor famous for playing The Lone Ranger. For 17 years starting in 1992, Thomas would come on the show and deliver the joke, much to Letterman and the audience’s approval. Watch the story unfold over the years.
After Thomas delivered the punchline, he and Letterman would alternate throwing a football at the meatball on top of the Late Show Christmas tree. To wrap up the show, Darlene Love would come out for “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and send the show into the night.
World-class musicians from the Caroga Lake Music Festival will return to Fulton County over December 16-19 to celebrate the holiday season during WinterFest. Performances are slated for the towns of Caroga, Johnstown and Gloversville.
Among the four scheduled performances over December 16 to 19 will be musical festivities featuring works by Tchaikovsky, Bach, Corelli, holiday sing-along favorites and more. See below for a schedule of Caroga Lake Music Festival WinterFest events in the Mohawk Valley.
Encore! Jazz Sessions: A Low-Key Christmas
Thursday, December 16 – 7:00pm – Nick Stoner Inn, Caroga Lake – Tickets: $15
Featuring Grammy Award-winning bassist Geoff Saunders and friends
CLMF WinterFest at Paul Nigra Center
Friday, December 17 – 7:00pm – Paul Nigra Center for the Creative Arts, Gloversville – Tickets: $15 (Livestream available)
CLMF WinterFest at St. John’s Johnstown
Saturday, December 18 – 7:00pm – St. John’s Episcopal Church, Johnstown, NY – Free Admission
Donations appreciated and split between Caroga Arts and One Church Street. Livestream available via St. John’s Episocpal Church facebook page
Holiday Sweets & Suites! – Featuring Caroga Arts Ensemble
Sunday, December 19 – 4:00pm – The Glove Theatre, Gloversville – Tickets: $10 per person, $30 per family of four
Special guests Suliman Tekalli (violin) and Mathieu Cognet (piano) performing Tekalli’s original virtuosic arrangement of The Nutcracker Suite.
On Saturday, December 11 at 7:30pm, the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra will continue its 2021-2022 Season with “Home for the Holidays,” a concert of symphonic holiday favorites, including The Polar Express, selections from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, and Festive Sounds of Hanukkah.
Jazz singer Ayana Del Valle will perform holiday classics, including “O Holy Night,” “The Christmas Song” and “Feliz Navidad,” and lead the audience in a Christmas sing-along. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be available for photos at 6:30pm in the lobby, and Nancy Wildoner will perform a pre-concert holiday organ recital at 7:00pm.
The Binghamton Philharmonic is a professional orchestra tracing its roots to 1949, when Fritz and Marie Wallenberg started a chamber orchestra in Binghamton. The Wallenberg family founded the Binghamton Symphony in 1955, and later merging with the BC Pops in 1996, to form the Binghamton Philharmonic. With a dedication to providing the Southern Tier with performances of live music by artists and making great music accessible to all through innovative, The Binghamton Philharmonic offers engaging and affordable programming within and beyond the concert hall.
The schedule for Binghamton Philharmonic “Home for the Holidays” on Saturday, December 11 includes:
6:30-7:30pm: Photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus
7-7:20pm: Organist Nancy Wildoner plays the Robert Morton IV/24 Theatre Pipe Organ
7:30pm: Home for the Holidays concert, starring Ayana Del Valle
The performance is located at the Broome County Forum Theatre, 236 Washington St. For more information visit the Philharmonic’s website.
With Christmas being only a few weeks away, we’ve been starting to hear more Christmas jingles wherever we go. Brooklyn-native Debbie Gibson has released a video to her infectious, sleigh bell-filled original Christmas song “Christmas Star,” a fresh holiday jingle that will keep us singing through the 25th.
“Christmas Star” teaches us to let go of the past while being the change you wish to see in the world this holiday season and beyond. Debbie alongside her guest stars, her three dachshunds named Joey, Trouper, and Levi. Watch “The Christmas Star” below.
Now, I know what you’re thinking, THE Debbie Gibson? Yes, we are talking about THE Debbie Gibson, one of the biggest teen pop stars on Earth since the late 80s. You remember sobbing in bed, screaming along to each innocent adolescent heartbreak like “Lost in Your Eye” and “Foolish Beat.” Debbie earned a Guinness World Record for being the youngest artist ever to have written, produced, and performed a Billboard number one single at 16 years old, a title she still holds to this day.
Conquering the Broadway stage starring as Eponine in Les Misérables, Sandy in Grease, or Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Gibson is a timeless pop-star who reaches for her quintessential songwriting expertise to shed some holiday spirit this coming Christmas. She’s hard to missa, and she’s back for more, without losing any of her stardom.
I think that celebrities should never underestimate their power. I mean just to draw attention, because then people get involved on a personal level.
Debbie Gibson
The Brooklyn born, Long Island-raised popstar has the big city to thank for shaping her into the into a pop-star. We all have to thank her mom too, bringing young Debbie to venues across the five boroughs that influenced her rise to fame at just 15 years old. With time, her songwriting has evolved with each hit released and television or Broadway appearance. Earning the ASCAP award for songwriting alongside Bruce Springsteen in 1989, Gibson continues to shine through each hit she writes.
After all this time, Gibson released her 10th studio pop album, The Body Remembers, waiting 20 years to find the perfect moment, creating a milestone for her and her own label, Stargirl Records. Paying homage to her earlier music, we hear her authentic sound of modern pop hooks and upbeat club bangers.
This time she puts a new refreshing spin on her newest album. The Body Remembers represents all things Debbie: empowerment, living your best life, and staying eternally electric. Listen to the full album below.
José James has released “Christmas in New York” ahead of his first Christmas album, Merry Christmas from José James, due out on November 19. The original Christmas track follows the single release of “My Favorite Things” featuring acclaimed saxophonist Marcus Strickland.
James is a Minneapolis native who spent most of his career in New York, and was discovered by Gilles Peterson in London before his major label debut with Blue Note Records. He has produced and written 11 albums covering the best of jazz, pop, hip-hop and R&B. In 2017, José made his screen debut with a performing role in Fifty Shades Darker. He now lives in Amsterdam with Talia Billig, his partner and Grammy nominated songwriter.
Co-written by James’ Grammy-nominated partner Talia Billig, “Christmas in New York” features the all-star trio of Aaron Parks (piano), Ben Williams (bass) and Jharis Yokley (drums).
I wrote ‘Christmas in New York’ for people like myself who aren’t able to see their families another year. That kind of picture-perfect scene of people throwing snowballs and making a snowman in Central Park and Wollman Rink and that whole beautiful Manhattan Christmas… It was my dream as a kid, and then I got to live it. There’s a lot of love in that.
José James
Merry Christmas from José James, from Rainbow Blonde Records, celebrates the holiday season while honoring classic jazz and pop records of the 1950s. Combining the classic jazz-crooner elegance of Frank Sinatra and Nat “King” Cole with the earthy sophistication of soul legends Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway, the ten track album is an auditory holiday experience like no other.
A 13-date tour to support the album will launch at SF Jazz in San Francisco on November 27th and conclude at New York’s City Winery on December 14th.
Merry Christmas from José James Track Listing
Christmas in New York ****
This Christmas
The Christmas Song
I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
The Christmas Waltz
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!
Christmas Day ****
My Favorite Things (feat. Marcus Strickland)
White Christmas **** represents original recording
José James 2021 Tour Dates
November 27 – SF Jazz – San Francisco, CA November 28 – SF Jazz – San Francisco, CA November 30 – Jazz Alley – Seattle, WA December 1 – Jazz Alley – Seattle, WA December 2 – The Old Church – Portland, OR December 4 – Kuumbwa – Santa Cruz December 5 – Masonic Lodge – Los Angeles, CA December 7– MIM – Phoenix, AZ December 9 –The Lensic – Santa Fe, December 11 – Dakota – Minneapolis, MN December 12 – Dakota – Minneapolis, MN December 13 – City Winery – Chicago, IL December 14 – City Winery – New York, NY
