A collection of classic and familiar Christmas standards played in a way that hopefully gives a mellow and warming feeling to the listener.

The arrangements are based on those of Martin Taylor, Joe Pass, Kevan Tolley, Jeff Arnold alongside traditional and typical phrasings and a good dollop of my own Christmas spice. 

Christmas carols, I think, often demand a "ringing" tone to their arrangement, which on guitar comes from playing in keys with open strings, D, G, A etc.  This means many arrangements for guitar inevitably have lots of common phrasings, chord voicings and patterns, but there's still enough in them to add variety and interest. By contrast, for the Christmas standards, there's more opportunity to vary, improvise with the form and structure, and play in keys more usual for jazz guitar arrangements (e.g. F, Bflat, Eflat, etc),

Martin Taylor, for instance, plays carols with incredible timing and discipline - apart from the fact that I don't think I could ever match the "perfection" of his style, I do like to meld his phrasings and chord choices into a more relaxed, less disciplined style. 

Joe Pass created a lovely Christmas collection too, mostly with a backing band, but I chose 2 of his solo arrangements and took the structure and parts that are playable for we mere mortals.   (Hint: never "copy" Joe Pass licks, it's cliche', better to quote him and vary his licks, your fingers will thank you, as will your listener).

It's important in arranging and playing these pieces to remember that the listener wants to "feel Christmassy", a mood which is set by familiarity and tradition.  So while they'll enjoy variation in arrangement and playing they might be disappointed if these songs are messed around with too much.  Mood is very important.

Ultimately, when playing standards and old, familiar pieces, we are always building on what many musicians have already added to originals.  It's impossible to credit and cite every layer of past influence.  So, along with a lifetime of hearing these songs, here's the more notable basis of arrangements to which I have added variation and my own feel:

Joe Pass:   White Christmas, It Came Upon A Midnight Clear  (the US melody).

Martin Taylor:  Away In A Manger, Silent Night, Little Town/All Through The Night, O Come All Ye Faithful

Jeff Arnold: The Christmas Song, Santa Claus is Coming To Town

Kevan Tolley: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

I hope you enjoy these pieces and have yourselves a merry little Christmas.