Tony Bennett - Snowfall: The Tony Bennett Christmas Album

Tony Bennett waited until 1968, deep into his Columbia years, to make a Christmas record, and when he finally did he made it with Robert Farnon, the arranger whose sweeping string writing had already defined so much of the era's easy-listening sound. The pairing gives Snowfall a warmth and sophistication that set it apart from the crowded shelf of crooner holiday albums.

The title track, Claude Thornhill's dreamy instrumental standard, opens the record with Bennett floating over Farnon's orchestra, and from there the album moves easily between jazz-inflected readings of "My Favorite Things" and "The Christmas Song," a swinging "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," and a long, inventive medley that threads "Silent Night" and "Jingle Bells" through "Where Is Love?" from Oliver!. Side two closes with "Winter Wonderland" and a tender "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."

It is a record built on phrasing rather than spectacle, and that is exactly why it has aged so well: Bennett's voice at full strength, with an orchestra that knows when to stay out of his way.

This remastered Columbia/Legacy reissue presents the original ten-track album on black vinyl.