Ken-ichi Sonoda and his Dixie Kings -- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

 

Yup, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", originally recorded by Gene Autry in 1949, is another Christmas classic that I remember very well. I also remember the 1964 Rankin/Bass stop-motion animated special hosted by Burl Ives that came on yearly. Probably along with Charlie Brown, Rudolph was the ultimate Xmas underdog done good. The song is also well known in Japan where it's titled "Rudolph: Aka Hana no Tonakai"（ルドルフ 赤鼻のトナカイ）although I don't know who provided the Japanese lyrics.

I think that it was through Scott's "Holly Jolly X'masu" that I first heard about Japan's premier Dixieland jazz band, trombonist Ken-ichi Sonoda and his Dixie Kings（薗田憲一とデキシーキングス）. The group has been around since 1960, but in 1981, they came up with an Xmas album called "White Christmas ~ Happy Christmas Party" in which Sonoda and his guys gave their distinctive sound to some of the Yuletide classics.

The opening song is indeed "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" under that Japanese title, and it's an unsurprisingly sprightly and bouncy rendition of the Autry original. Y'know, I think that Christmas and jazz have gone together marvelously over the decades, and I've heard West Coast jazz Xmas tunes through Vince Guaraldi and Kei Kobayashi（小林桂）along with the swing sensations of Duke Ellington. However, this is the first time for me to include a Christmas tune imbued with Dixieland.

The originating channel showing "White Christmas ~ Happy Christmas Party", Kissaten Archives, provides a very generous description about the Dixie Kings along with the tracks and times for the album under the video, so there's no need for me to add anything here about them. However, I'd like to reiterate what has been stated there and say that though Sonoda himself passed away in 2006, his son Benkei Sonoda（薗田勉慶）has picked up the trombone and took on the title of leader of the Dixie Kings.