In the upcoming issue, we take an obligatory look at new Christmas CDs. Sadly, Harry Connick, Jr.’s new What a Night! didn’t arrive in time to be included. The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s John Soeder interviewed Connick about his the Christmas album recently:  

Q: Was it a challenge to bring something fresh to your arrangements of warhorses such as “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” or “We Three Kings”?

A: No, not really. I don’t know how fresh the arrangements are, but they were certainly new to me.

When you’re dealing with songs like that, the melodies are so strong and the lyrics are so great that you can rip ’em apart as much as you want and they still remain standing.