Joel Paterson/Photo: Joel Paterson
Christmastime is here, and with it comes the complaining about too much, not enough, or “not the right kind of” Christmas music, in addition to the annual specter of the first ambush from Wham’s “Last Christmas” or the Mariah Careybiquitousness of “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” The latter’s multi-octave cheesiness was no doubt on display at her “Christmas Time” concert at Allstate Arena shortly after Thanksgiving, although later shows were short-circuited by a flu diagnosis. ‘Tis the season!
But when your family is tired of having W-LIT 93.9 FM (“your Christmas light”) playing as you drive around to look at Christmas lights, or SomaFM’s “Xmas in Frisko” stream is too gimmicky for you (or NSFW) at your desk, or the current wife doesn’t understand why The Vermin’s “Santa Was A Cross-Dressing Nazi” should be considered Christmas music, there’s always local guitar hero Joel Paterson.
Having released two Christmas albums of his signature retro-jazz electric guitar wizardry, Paterson has shown himself to be a master of Christmas music reinterpretations. Beginning with 2017’s “Hi-Fi Christmas Guitar” and 2023’s “The More The Merrier” (both available via Hi Tide and Nu-Tone), Joel Paterson has brought new life to quite a few seasonal chestnuts, some of which could be pretty stale by the time the average Christmas music listener reaches middle age.
While it may seem like a “jazz guitar” version of Christmas standards (along with more rocking recent additions to the canon) would be a recipe for smooth jazz sleepiness, what I like about Paterson’s approach—in addition to his brilliant Gibson guitar sound—is the way he matches the interpretations he performs to the atmosphere of the source material.
Thus the listener’s stockings are stuffed with upbeat, hopping renditions of “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,” and creative montages like “Christmas Guitar Boogie,” while classics like “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear” and “Silent Night” receive a more meditative and respectful approach. “O Tannenbaum” and “White Christmas” nicely straddle both perspectives, but allow plenty of room for Paterson’s wildly creative and innovative, improvisational flourishes, which are never showy but always impressive.
His delivery never suffers from a lack of swing, and it’s deeply informed by the blues as well. Just pick up on the tasty stylings Paterson brings to blues numbers like “Merry Christmas” and the Western swing inflections of “Blue Christmas”—there are no lumps of coal in this seasonal repertoire.
Joel Paterson comes by his talent for reinterpretation honestly. A native of Madison, Wisconsin, he joined Chicago roots revivalists Devil In A Woodpile in 2003, an ensemble that made their name bringing back old folk, country and blues classics. They became such a fixture at The Hideout they seemed older than the bar itself.
Joel Paterson is doing a mini tour of Christmas tunes around the Midwest, culminating in shows at Fitzgerald’s in Berwyn on Wednesday, December 18, and Evanston Space, 1245 Chicago Avenue, Evanston, on Sunday, December 22. Both performances start at 7pm. You can also catch The Joel Paterson Quartet playing at the Green Mill, 4802 North Broadway, every Monday at 8pm, and also this New Year’s Eve at the Hungry Brain, 2319 West Belmont at 10pm.
