Boogie Woogie Christmas, The Brian Setzer Orchestra (Surfdog)

If you saw the flick "Jingle All the Way," you got a preview of this disc, as Setzer's big band had several cuts on that soundtrack, by themselves and with guest vocalists Darlene Love on "Sleigh Ride" and Lou Rawls on the Setzer original "So They Say it's Christmas." Those two cuts reappear, same arrangements and all, with Setzer singing, as does the film's "Jingle Bells," which kicks off both CDs. He did an instrumental version of "Jingle Bells" for Merry Axemas, too. Having already put all that work into it, you can't fault Setzer for figuring he may as well finish the job of putting out a whole Christmas album. Although the orchestra is your basic big swing band, Setzer's Stray Cats sensibilities still reign. The uptempo stuff is the best, like "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus," "The Man With the Bag" and "Winter Wonderland," although a nice stride boogie beat underpins "Blue Christmas" and the Elvis Presley blues "Santa Claus Is Back In Town" is a solid rendition too. Setzer may have tried a little too hard to mix up the menu; he resorts to the lounge-music toolbox twice with the Rawls tune and a duet with Ann-Margret (really!) on "Baby It's Cold Outside." "The Nutcracker Suite" mixes up rockabilly strut with a few too many Lawrence Welk-isms to suit me. UPDATE: Chris Candreva objects to my Welk characterization of this latter tune, noting it is an updated version of a record by Les Brown and His Band of Renown. Duly noted. Still, a good outing all around, especially if you didn't see Arnold and Sinbad's movie already. Brian has since gone on to make a nice business out of the holiday; his press materials even refer to his orchestra as "BSO," a nod to that other Christmas staple TSO.