Christmas album is just fun

This collection of standards is likely to find its way into CD players at parties.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Diana Krall made sure she didn't overthink her "Christmas Songs" album. She just wanted to have fun.
So she lighted candles, decorated a tree at a Los Angeles studio and invited the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra -- in June.
The vibe paid off on this brassy collection of standards likely to find its way into CD players when friends and family gather for holiday parties.
"I wanted to make a happy record," she told The Associated Press.
Krall joins Anita Baker and Brian Wilson among the prominent artists releasing new holiday discs this season. On completely opposite ends of the spectrum, Martha Stewart and gross-out film director John Waters curate their own holiday compilations. The U.S. Postal Service even gets into the spirit, selling a "Dear Santa" CD compilation next to the stamps.
High failure rate
Some artists who make holiday discs make it difficult on themselves. They hunt for obscure material. They try to write new songs in a genre that has an extraordinarily high failure rate. They try to revise familiar melodies or use trendy production techniques that are like date-stamping a particular recording.
Krall's guidelines were relatively simple. She stuck to American popular standards, composers, time-tested melodies like "White Christmas," "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." She stayed away from religious material.
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