New Orleans Musicians Share Preferred Christmas Music Selections

New Orleans musicians, representing diverse genres such as jazz, blues, funk, bounce, and soul, have shared their preferred Christmas songs. The selections often reflect their personal backgrounds, including church traditions, and highlight the varied influences within the city's music scene.

Introduction

A selection of prominent New Orleans artists discussed their favorite holiday music, providing insight into the cultural and personal significance of these songs within their lives and careers.

Musician Selections

Jazz singer John Boutte, who was raised in the Treme neighborhood, occasionally sang "O Come All Ye Faithful" during Christmas Eve Mass. He identifies Stevie Wonder's "Someday at Christmas" as a song that conveys themes of purpose and hope associated with the Christmas season. Stevie Wonder is reported to have described Boutte's voice as "signature."

Big Freedia, a bounce artist, grew up in the Baptist church, where she began in the choir and later became its director. She has recorded Christmas songs, including "Santa is a Gay Man," which she lists among her favorites. Freedia noted that her parents ensured a joyful Christmas experience during her childhood, emphasizing gift-giving and acknowledging the birth of Christ, despite limited resources.

Tarriona "Tank" Ball, lead singer for Tank and the Bangas, whose music blends genres, was raised in a Baptist church where her grandfather served as a preacher. Her favorite Christmas songs include Eartha Kitt's "Santa Baby," works by Donny Hathaway, and The Temptations' rendition of "Silent Night." Ball stated that singing evokes a spiritual feeling and expressed a desire for audiences to experience a sense of closeness to God and comfort when she performs "Silent Night."

Leroy Jones, a jazz trumpeter affiliated with the Preservation Hall collective, has released an album featuring Christmas hymns arranged for three trumpets. He identifies "Away in a Manger" as a favorite, noting its lyrical depiction of the scene of Christ's birth and the discovery by the Three Wise Men.

Bruce "Sunpie" Barnes, an accordion and harmonica player, recalled his childhood Christmases as periods filled with musical performances, primarily blues music, played throughout the night. He continues to perform blues classics such as Freddie King's "Christmas Tears." Barnes' family were sharecroppers, and he stated that music during Christmas offered relief from daily hardships and provided healing. He also noted that some blues songs performed at Christmas were spirituals that addressed the struggles of others, mentioning prayers for soldiers, the wounded, and those receiving welfare. His mother's family was Baptist, and his father's Pentecostal.

Irma Thomas, a prominent New Orleans soul singer, continues to sing in her church choir at age 84. She has been a consistent performer in the gospel tent at Jazz Fest and characterizes gospel music as a form of prayer and praise. Thomas has recorded "O Holy Night" twice, expressing a hope that the song provides solace and instills hope in listeners during Christmas. She stated her objective is to "bring joy to folk."