Yutaka Yokokura -- This Christmas

Well, many Xmas cards, present-buying and a few parties later, I find myself in the homestretch for December 25th. Perhaps just some remaining things to tweak and I should be relatively stress-free for Christmas.

Along with that marshmallow-topped cup of cocoa, I think another calming stress buster is Yutaka Yokokura's（横倉裕）cover version of "This Christmas" from the compilation album "A GRP Christmas Collection" released in 1988. The originating studio is GRP Records which was formed by composer/arranger Dave Grusin and producer/musician Larry Rosen as a jazz label.

"This Christmas" was originally recorded and co-written by the late soul singer Donny Hathaway back in 1970, and it's been called "absolutely the premiere holiday song written by an African American" by guitarist/bassist Phil Upchurch according to the Wikipedia article for the song. I remember hearing the song on radio thanks to that repeated horn riff but from coming across the Yokokura cover, I was finally able to really listen to and appreciate the Hathaway original as an Xmas song in the big city.

However, listening to Yokokura's "This Christmas", I think the AOR arrangement is such that I can consider it to be its own animal, so to speak (although that robotic voice near the end is a weird touch). The top video for the cover version has one scene of a house out in the countryside and for me, it's the crowning Xmas-scape for this song. Just have the family and friends enjoy a sunny day in the cold and crisp air and mounds of snow before coming back in for that fine dinner.