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Holiday Music NPR presents a mix of live concerts and other music to help get you in the spirit of the season.
The Beatles on a toboggan in Austria in 1965.
Special Series

Holiday Music

NPR presents a mix of live concerts and other music to help get you in the spirit of the season.
The All Songs Considered Holiday Spectacular, 2015

Bob and Robin take a Dickensian journey in this year's holiday music special, with visits from some old friends, including Carrie Brownstein, Dan Auerbach, Aimee Mann and Ted Leo, Ben Folds and more. Mito Habe-Evans hide caption

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Mito Habe-Evans

All Songs Considered

The All Songs Considered Holiday Spectacular, 2015

Hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton find themselves taking a Dickensian journey, with visits from old friends, including Carrie Brownstein, Aimee Mann and Ted Leo, Dan Auerbach, Ben Folds and more.

The All Songs Considered Holiday Spectacular, 2015

Listen · 35:32
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A Jazz Piano Christmas 2016

Bill Charlap, Willie Pickens, Renee Rosnes and Bethany Pickens performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington for the annual public radio special A Jazz Piano Christmas. Jati Lindsey/Courtesy of the Kennedy Center hide caption

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Jati Lindsey/Courtesy of the Kennedy Center

A Jazz Piano Christmas 2016

Father-daughter duo Willie and Bethany Pickens, along with husband-wife duo Bill Charlap and Renee Rosnes, played holiday favorites live at the Kennedy Center in Washington Dec. 10.

A Jazz Piano Christmas 2016

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Songs We Love: Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, 'Christmas At The Airport'

Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets Ed Conway/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Ed Conway/Courtesy of the artist

Songs We Love: Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, 'Christmas At The Airport'

Traveling these holidays? Let a veteran balladeer and his merry masked band be your support group through snowy flight delays.

03Christmas at the Airport

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  • Buy Featured Music

    Song
    Christmas at the Airport
    Album
    Quality Holiday Revue Live
    Artist
    Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets
    Label
    Yep Roc
    Released
    2015

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Songs We Love: Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra, 'We Three Kings'

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Frank Stewart/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Frank Stewart/Courtesy of the artist

Songs We Love: Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra, 'We Three Kings'

Wynton Marsalis leads the famed big band through a rougher-round-the-edges version of a Xmas fave.

06We Three Kings [Live]

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    Song
    We Three Kings [Live]
    Album
    Big Band Holidays
    Artist
    Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra/Wynton Marsalis
    Label
    Relativity Entertainment
    Released
    2015

    Your purchase helps support NPR programming. How?

Songs We Love: Derek Rogers, 'Warm Christmas'

Derek Rogers. Dean Daniel Markham/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Dean Daniel Markham/Courtesy of the artist

Songs We Love: Derek Rogers, 'Warm Christmas'

A brief, richly suggestive drone piece that conjures chilly atmospheres and faded family memories.

03Warm Christmas

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Songs We Love: Zane Campbell, 'Layaway Plan'

Zane Campbell. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

Songs We Love

Songs We Love: Zane Campbell, 'Layaway Plan'

An alcoholic's holiday carol that's ultimately a letter to the mother the narrator never calls, from one of American folk and country music's great recluses.

02Layaway Plan

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A Paul Winter Solstice Concert 2015

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. Yiannis Theologos Michellis/Flickr hide caption

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Yiannis Theologos Michellis/Flickr

A Paul Winter Solstice Concert 2015

Celebrate the return of the sun with the 35th annual Winter Solstice concert, captured live in the majestic Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

Hear Part One Of The Winter Solstice Celebration

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Songs We Love: Kinky Friedman, 'Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis'

Kinky Friedman. Brian Kanof/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Brian Kanof/Courtesy of the artist

Songs We Love: Kinky Friedman, 'Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis'

The finest storytelling Jewish cowboy in Texas puts a new spin on Tom Waits' classic holiday tale.

02Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis

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  • Buy Featured Music

    Song
    Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis
    Album
    Loneliest Man I Ever Met
    Artist
    Kinky Friedman
    Released
    2015

    Your purchase helps support NPR programming. How?

Songs We Love: Nico Muhly, 'Whispered and Revealed'

Nico Muhly's new holiday song is based on Longfellow's poem Snow-flakes. Matthew Murphy/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Matthew Murphy/Courtesy of the artist

Review

Deceptive Cadence

Songs We Love: Nico Muhly, 'Whispered and Revealed'

Hear a deceptive take on the winter blues by way of a versatile choir, a young New York composer and a 150-year-old poem by Longfellow.

06Whispered and Revealed

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  • Buy Featured Music

    Song
    Whispered and Revealed
    Album
    Holiday Harmonies: Songs of Christmas
    Artist
    Essential Voices USA
    Label
    Sono Luminus
    Released
    2015

    Your purchase helps support NPR programming. How?

A Jazz Piano Christmas 2015

Host Felix Contreras introduces Joey Alexander, Carmen Staaf, Fred Hersch and Kenny Barron. Jati Lindsay/Courtesy of the Kennedy Center hide caption

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Jati Lindsay/Courtesy of the Kennedy Center

A Jazz Piano Christmas 2015

Kenny Barron, Fred Hersch, Carmen Staaf and Joey Alexander — a roster whose ages span more than 60 years — play solo renditions of their holiday favorites at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

A Jazz Piano Christmas 2015

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Songs We Love: Aloe Blacc, 'Merry Christmas Mr. Brown'

Aloe Blacc. Reid Rolls/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Reid Rolls/Courtesy of the artist

Songs We Love: Aloe Blacc, 'Merry Christmas Mr. Brown'

The soul singer's musical gift to the families of police violence is a healing Christmas Spirit.

01Merry Christmas Mr. Brown

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Pink Martini's Joy To The World: A Holiday Spectacular

Pink Martini's Joy To The World: A Holiday Spectacular. Dave Christensen/OPB hide caption

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Dave Christensen/OPB

NPR's Holiday Favorites

Pink Martini's Joy To The World: A Holiday Spectacular

opbmusic.org

With timeless classics and rarely heard gems, the "little orchestra" spreads holiday cheer with the help of NPR's Ari Shapiro.

Pink Martini's Joy To The World: A Holiday Spectacular

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Festivo Alt.Latino: Gaby Moreno In Concert

Gaby Moreno and Gina Chavez perform live at KUT's Studio 1A. Dave Pedley hide caption

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Dave Pedley

Alt.Latino

Festivo Alt.Latino: Gaby Moreno In Concert

Her voice dripping with Southern R&B grit, Moreno and her band never lose sight of the emotion in the holiday classics they perform at KUT in Austin, Texas.

Festivo Alt.Latino: Gaby Moreno In Concert

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An Alt.Latino Christmas, With Cantigas In Concert

Cantigas performs live in NPR's Studio 1. Colin Marshall/NPR hide caption

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Colin Marshall/NPR

Alt.Latino

An Alt.Latino Christmas, With Cantigas In Concert

Celebrate the season with songs from across the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking world.

An Alt.Latino Christmas, With Cantigas In Concert

Listen · 56:41
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Bob And Robin's Holiday In Space
Detlev van Ravenswaay/Science Photo Library/Corbis

All Songs Considered

Bob And Robin's Holiday In Space

Every year, All Songs Considered hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton go on a musical holiday adventure. This year, they take a rocket ride to outer space and are joined by a few special guests.

Listen To Bob And Robin's Holiday In Space

Listen · 59:15
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Couldn't Miss This One: Behind 'Christmas Wrapping'

The Waitresses' members were in the middle of a tour behind "I Know What Boys Like" when "Christmas Wrapping" took over the radio in 1981. David Corio/Redferns hide caption

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David Corio/Redferns

Couldn't Miss This One: Behind 'Christmas Wrapping'

It's a short story about a woman who just wants to spend the holiday alone, from a band that had no interest in writing what would become a holiday classic.

Couldn't Miss This One: Behind 'Christmas Wrapping'

Listen · 4:51
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