Calexico, Grant-Lee Phillips, and Peggy Lee

Christmas is approaching and we have a lot of conversations to get to. This week, I spend time with Joey Burns of Calexico, Grant Lee Phillips, and Holly Foster Wells, singer Peggy Lee's granddaughter and the president of Peggy Lee Associates, which oversees her musical legacy. 

Calexico released Seasonal Shift in November, and it's true to the band's long-time project as it lives in a place where cultures find ways to coexist. As such, Calexico projects often feel like they have political subtexts, and Burns addresses that. 

Grant-Lee Phillips released the four-song Yuletide EP this year, and he talks about what Christmas music taught him about songwriting as a boy. He reflects on the experience of playing Christmas shows with Aimee Mann and being a mall Santa one Christmas season--a first for 12 Songs! He also talks about how his "Winterglow" ended up on Gilmore Girls.  

Holly Foster Wells remembers Christmases with Peggy Lee including Christmas parties that inevitably features some of the top singers of the day singing Christmas favorites around the piano. She provides behind the scenes recollections of her decorations and her biggest Christmas hits. We'll have more with Wells on Peggy Lee soon. 

This episode also spotlights Christmas Time is Here, a new album from sax player Benny Barksdale Jr. that sounds like home cooking--not quite smooth jazz but close, and the kind of warm sound and easy groove that sounds great at Christmas time.