"A Charlie Brown Christmas" w/ Sandy Yamamoto, Utah Hamrick, & David Sierra

Look, Bing and Burl ain’t bad, but for vintage yuletide sounds you really can’t beat Vince Guaraldi’s soundtrack to the 1965 "A Charlie Brown Christmas" TV special. You get swinging takes on holiday classics like “O Tannenbaum,” sweetly melancholic choral pieces sung by kids (“Hark the Herald Angels Sing”), and VG originals you can’t hear without picturing Peanuts characters doing their thing (“Skating,” “Linus and Lucy”). Violinist Sandy Yamamoto, bassist Utah Hamrick, drummer David Sierra, and others re-create the magic – rumor has it Snoopy will be dropping by, too. (By the way, Apple TV is making the animated special available to folks without a subscription on Saturday, Dec. 13, and Sunday, Dec. 14.) – Kimberley Jones