One of my best memories of childhood was the anticipation of seeing A Charlie Brown Christmas. With its fantastic score, the genuine children's voices and the overall message of Christmas, it was something I loved to watch every year. My children, and now my grandchildren, watch this show every year, and I believe it means a lot to them as part of an annual ritual of the Christmas season.

There are a multitude of means by which one can listen to music, and of course, the scores to just about any show or artist are readily available. So, the days of seeing anything from my past childhood, shown only once a year and with a family gathered around one television to watch it, are likely long gone. So too are the nights where one's parents would get dressed up for cocktails with friends and go for an evening of listening to some fine jazz likely behind us.

Thankfully for all of us, there are musicians such as those featured on Putumayo's latest contribution to the Christmas canon, Jazz Christmas. With songs as varied as the ways in which the season is celebrated, and such artists as Tom Grant with his piano jazz version of "Winter Wonderland," or the "The Christmas Song" as interpreted by The Dixieland Ramblers, which instrumentally allows the listener to sing the words to this song. A favorite of mine is Oscar Peterson, a great interpreter of the song "Let It Snow," which was composed on a hot summer day in Hollywood, California.

With liner notes galore, and an album download card, the listener can enjoy a multi-varied Christmas album, again and again. And that tradition alone is one that can resonate throughout the years in your family and mine.