Claude says:Ella Fitzgerald — impeccable phrasing, horn-like scat, a sixty-year career in jazz — cut this holiday set with Louis Armstrong for Norman Granz's Verve label. The arrangements are light swing, playful without being corny, Ella's voice pure and warm over brushes and brass. You picked it up in December 2016 and came back to it heavily in December 2022, playing "Sleigh Ride," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" like a seasonal ritual.