A New Orleans-style read of the New Year's standard at a strolling 108bpm in F, with barrelhouse piano, clarinet and a full brass front line of trumpet, trombone and tuba over upright bass and sleigh bells. It moves from a relaxed jazz-band saunter to a warm collective chorus that lands squarely for a countdown or last-call toast.
The most relaxed of the album's brass-led arrangements, sitting at 84bpm in F with saxophone and trumpet trading the hymn melody over dusty piano, ukulele, nylon guitar, tuba and shuffling drums. Cheerful but unhurried, it works as a wide-smile background bed that still resolves on a proper band cadence.
A brisk 120bpm E flat take on the door-to-door carol, built on ragtime piano, clarinet, ukulele and nylon guitar with upright bass and sleigh bells keeping a light two-beat pulse. Its longest running time on the fast side of the album gives room for a warmer, more romantic middle before the tune bounces back for a clean finish.
The most familiar carol on the record played as a quirky 110bpm ragtime in C, with old upright piano, clarinet, tuba and ukulele over walking bass and sleigh bells. Short and unrelentingly cheerful, it opens with the hook and holds a steady toe-tapping groove to a tidy button ending.
The shortest of the mid-tempo cues, a 110bpm C major reading led by trumpet over ukulele, piano, upright bass and sleigh bells. Bright and slightly sentimental, its brevity makes it useful as a 2-minute reveal or gift-opening cue that resolves without an extended solo section.
A brass-free, string-driven version at 120bpm in B flat: nylon guitar and ukulele carry the melody alongside ragtime piano with upright bass, drums and sleigh bells. Lighter and more parlour-like than the horn arrangements, with a warm sentimental lean and a compact two-minute shape.
A loping 97bpm E flat carol with saxophone taking the lead over nylon guitar, ukulele, honky-tonk piano, upright bass and sleigh bells. The slowest of the string-and-sax arrangements and the album's shortest mid-tempo cue, it keeps a strolling, good-natured swing and closes cleanly.
The ballad of the collection at 80bpm in C, with muted-sounding trumpet stating the hymn over slow-rolling piano, nylon guitar, ukulele, brushed drums and upright bass. Tender and vintage rather than jokey, it suits a quiet late-night moment and settles gently at the end.
At 4:35 the longest cue here, and structured to climb: 105bpm with modulations from E through F to G flat, trumpet and trombone answering the counting verses over ukulele, piano, whistling, upright bass and sleigh bells. The rising keys build the joke and the energy across repeated choruses to a big band-style finish.
The fastest track on the album at 140bpm, a scampering ragtime that lifts through C, D flat and D with trumpet on top of ukulele, nylon guitar, piano, upright bass and sleigh bells. Two minutes of breathless, quirky forward motion with key changes driving each chorus higher before a snappy ending.
A 125bpm carol in A that adds electric guitar to the usual nylon guitar, ukulele, trumpet, piano and upright bass, giving it a slightly grittier vintage-band edge than its neighbours. Confident and marching in feel, it runs long enough for a solo turn before a full-band close.
The shortest and most horn-heavy cue on the record, 1:51 at 100bpm in B flat with trumpet, trombone and saxophone stacked over ukulele, nylon guitar, piano, upright bass and sleigh bells. A tight Dixieland-flavoured romp that gets in, states the tune with the full front line, and gets out.