Twenty Years Of A Jazz Piano Christmas

December 16, 2009 - An NPR holiday tradition celebrates two decades this winter: It's the 20th annual A Jazz Piano Christmas. Every year, NPR invites great jazz keyboardists, revered giants and fresh new voices alike, to spin unique takes on holiday music, live in concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. This year, variety was the theme: The six pianists who took the stage — Eldar, Robert Glasper, Patricia Barber, Joe Sample, Ramsey Lewis and Dr. Billy Taylor — ranged in age from 22 to 88.

Photo: Margot Schulman

Billy Taylor (left) duets with Eldar at A Jazz Piano Christmas 2009.

This year's broadcast begins with a moment from 2008's A Jazz Piano Christmas, unheard on the radio broadcast. New Orleans master mentor Ellis Marsalis played an exploratory, growing meditation on "Winter Wonderland," anchored by brooding left-hand ostinato chords.

The main event began with Eldar Djangirov's romp through Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song." The young Kansas City native, who goes by just his first name, landed a major-label recording contract with Sony before he was old enough to vote. Only 22, Eldar was only 2 years old when A Jazz Piano Christmas began. But for his second tune, he invited 88-year-old Billy Taylor to duet with him — a performance heard here as an online-only exclusive.

Pianist Robert Glasper has won attention for fusing jazz ideas with hip-hop sensibilities — and often producing music with rappers and neo-soul singers. His latest album is titled Double Booked, and he's not kidding. On the morning that A Jazz Piano Christmas was recorded, he was on the Today show in New York with soul singer Maxwell. He jumped on a train for Washington and performed a rambling take on Thad Jones' "A Child Is Born."

Complete on  >>  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121520079