Even before it was formalized, the mission of JAZZ AT THE BALLROOM was clear—bring the very best jazz to the Bay Area, do everything in our creative powers to get more exposure for the musicians who perform here, and foster a future love of jazz by supporting music education in our schools and larger community. The medium was the almost-forgotten tradition of house salon concerts. We packed the ballroom with music-lovers and let the artists take it from there. With a combination like that, how could it possibly fail? From the moment the idea of JAZZ AT THE BALLROOM was uttered, we knew we had to do it. Looking back, I can honestly say it is going to go down as one of those rare ventures in life when everything magically clicked from the beginning. It was a grassroots effort, with friends calling friends for professional connections, personal favors, legal advice, computer skills, wine, and even fold-up tables. Then there were the artists. If there has ever been a group of people who put practicality and caution aside, it’s jazz musicians. But to paraphrase Martha Graham, you don’t pick jazz, jazz picks you. And there is no doubt jazz knew what it was doing when it picked the artists here. So in keeping with our mission to share the first-class talents of these musicians, we came up with the idea of this album. Talk about coming full circle! The house that hosts the concerts was once the Bing Crosby estate. Music practically drips from the walls and who doesn’t remember how Bing was at the forefront of an American creation—Christmas music? The musicians from Seasons One and Two of JAZZ AT THE BALLROOM didn’t hesitate to help out with this. Maybe it was the chance to sing a Christmas song special to them or maybe they knew I wouldn’t stop asking until they said “yes.” Whatever the reason, we can all agree it’s the perfect way to tip our hats to Bing and thank him for bringing us together. Merry Christmas from our house to yours!