The Rifftides staff does not plan to observe the season by loading the blog with jazz versions of Christmas songs. There may be exceptions.
The first exception is a video brought to our attention in a message from the irrepressible German alto and soprano saxophonist Nicole Johänntgen. In the clip, Ms. Johänntgen is disguised as someone you may recognize.
Here she is, undisguised, at a 2015 festival in Italy, with the William Lenihan Quartet—Lenihan, guitar; Francesco Puglisi, bass; Lucrezio de Seta, drums
For a review of Ms. Johänntgen and her band called Sofia (Support of Female Improvising Artists) at last summer’s Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival, go here.