Chestnuts Roasting

There is always one song that tops our list, and one we love to include in our Christmas gigs.

Maybe it’s a sixth sense thing because even though it’s a Northern Hemisphere composition, it was written during a blistering summer. That’s something we can relate to in Australia.

Mel Torme said it was borne of “an effort to stay cool by thinking cool”. Bob Wells had written a few wintery phrases on a notepad, Torme spied it sitting on the piano, and 40 minutes later the Christmas song that is among the most performed was completed. 

This version is gorgeous, Mel Torme and Judy Garland getting into the Christmas swing of it from 1963.