I hope you can join me for a cup of musical cheer on this year’s special Christmas show! The festivities begin with the stirring song “Yule” from English accordionist and singer Jim Causley. He says the song was written by Mick Ryan and inspired by scenes of winter feasting in ‘Beowulf.’ Then Jackie Oates and John Spiers regale us with perhaps one of the best known English wassailing songs, “Gloucestershire Wassail,” followed by Irish singer Cara Dillon with a lovely rendition of “The Holly and the Ivy.” Icelandic folk ensemble Umbra perform “Englakór Frá Himnahöll / Angels We Have Heard On High” and Loreena McKennit and friends present an inventive arrangement of “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.” The first half of show concludes with Norway’s Gjermund Larsen Trio and their beautiful instrumental version of “O helga natt / O Holy Night.” The second half of the show kicks off with the beloved Cajun-Zydeco band BeauSoleil on “Papa St. Nick” from the album ‘Christmas Gumbo.’ Les Rats d’Swompe follow that with the Québécois song “Voilà le Père Noël qui nous arrive!” It was written in the 1930s by La Bolduc – the stage name of Mary Rose-Anne Bolduc. NOLA’s New Birth Brass Band brings the funk on “Santa’s Second Line.” The show finishes up with a Latin flourish as we hear Montréal based Brazilian singers Bïa and Diogo Ramos and friends on the original song “Ding Dong,” Colombian-born guitarist Juan Carlos Quintero with his rendition of “Jingle Bells,” and Toronto-based Cuban musician Hilario Durán with a salsa-inspired “Venid, Adoremos (O Come All Ye Faithful).” Closing out the festivities is The Caribbean Jazz Project with their cool jazz arrangement of “Silent Night.” 

The program airs on two NPR stations this week, starting Sunday December 21st, and then again on Christmas Day: 

> Sunday – 6 pm (Central) on my home station Public Radio Tulsa in Oklahoma
> Thursday – 8 pm (Central Time US) on KAMU Public Broadcasting at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Go to the Listen page for live-stream links to the station websites. 

You can also listen to the archived audio stream at any time here on the PRX website: https://exchange.prx.org/pieces/599273

Feliz Navidad! Joyeux Noël! Merry Christmas!