The Definitive Version: Let It Snow

Welcome to Week 16 of The Definitive Version, a new weekly feature of my website. You can read more about the project here and read all past entries here.

Song: “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (1945)
Composer: Jule Styne
Lyricist: Sammy Cahn
Form: AABA
Standard Key: There doesn’t seem to be a particularly standard key. Many lead sheets put it in F Major, though there are others in G and C.

According to Wikipedia, Cahn and Styne wrote “Let it Snow” on a hot July day, wishing for cooler weather (an origin story shared with Mel Tormé’s “The Christmas Song”). Cahn and Styne wrote songs, together and separately, both for shows and for popular ’40s singers, especially Frank Sinatra. This was undoubtedly their most successful collaboration.

Definitive Version: Nancy Wilson (2001, from A Nancy Wilson Christmas)
Form: Band Intro | A | A | B | A || Chorus – band soli / trumpet solo | (modulation) | A | A | B | A |
Feel: Medium swing
Key:
B-flat Major / D-flat Major
Instrumentation: Big band

Nancy Wilson was one of the greatest storytellers of all jazz singers, and her swinging version of “Let It Snow!” is no exception. She finds space, she finds a story worth telling, and she swing the phrasing throughout. The big band arrangement by Dr. John Wilson is killed by the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Star Big Band (Jon Faddis, trumpet solo).

There are plenty of excellent versions of this classic wintertime song – several more below – but Nancy’s is one I come to again and again for the sophistication of phrasing, the swinging singing and playing, and the utter joy present throughout the recording.

Also Recommended:

  • Ella Fitzgerald (1960, from Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas) – Ella’s classic swing and playfulness with the melody is so joyful.
  • Diana Krall (2005, from Christmas Songs) John Clayton’s great big band arrangement and Krall’s tasteful phrasing stand up well.
  • Joe Williams (1990, from That Holiday Feelin’) – Joe is underrated as an interpreter of classic American song – and here’s a great example to prove that to you.
  • Harry Connick, Jr. (1993, from When My Heart Finds Christmas) – A nice, swinging version from early in Connick’s career.
  • Frank Sinatra (1948, from Christmas Songs) Frank’s phrasing in the 40’s is so different from the Sinatra we think of from later in is career. This is the earliest recording on the list.