Christmas 2008, Part 1: Jessie Baylin's "That's What I Want for Christmas"

Jessie Baylin - See How I Run Jessie Baylin Tour Dates 01/09/09 Harrah’s Kansas City Kansas City, MO* 01/10/09 Toad Tavern Littleton, CO* 01/12/09 Depot Salt Lake City, Utah* 01/14/09 Belly up Solana Beach, CA* 01/15/09 House of Blues Anaheim, CA* 01/16/09 House of Blues Hollywood, CA* 01/17/09 Slim’s San Francisco, CA* 01/18/09 Harrah’s  Lake Tahoe, NV* 01/20/09 Tower Theatre Bend, OR* 01/22/09 Alladin Theatre Portland, OR 01/23/09 Richards on Richards Vancouver, British Columbia* 01/24/09 Showbox at the Market Seattle, WA* 01/25/09 Knitting Factory Spokane Spokane, WA* 01/27/09  Knitting Factory Boise, ID* 01/28/09 Mangy Moose Saloon Tenton Village, Wyoming* 01/30/09 Aggie Theatre Ft. Collins, Colorado* 01/31/09 Belly Up Aspen Aspen, Colorado* 02/01/09 Fox Theatre Boulder Boulder, Colorado* 02/03/09 Cain’s 2nd Stage Tulsa, Oklahoma* 02/05/09 The State Theatre Starkville, Mississippi* 02/07/09 Harrah’s New Orleans New Orleans, Louisiana* 03/27/09 MayerCraft Cruise Los Angeles, The Sea, Cabo San Lucas, California+ 03/28/09 MayerCraft Cruise Los Angeles, The Sea, Cabo San Lucas, California+ 03/29/09 MayerCraft Cruise Los Angeles, The Sea, Cabo San Lucas, California+ 03/30/09 MayerCraft Cruise Los Angeles, The Sea, Cabo San Lucas, California+ * w/ Marc Broussard and Josh Hoge + w/ John Mayer, Guster, OAR Read More Marc Broussard http://weheartmus... Fresh from his appearance on Conan O'Brien on Monday, Marc Broussard shows us how he funk & roll!...

For that most wonderful time of the year, I'm planning on doing a Christmas three-parter. It's not as ambitious as last year's xmas special, I'll have to confess.

This first entry is for Jessie Baylin.

Jessie Baylin - That's What I Want For Christmas Nancy Wilson - That's What I Want For Christmas SheDaisy - That's What I Want For Christmas

I did see her briefly as she appeared on stage to do a duet with Matt Nathanson. I'm happy to let you know that I have her album, Firesight (released on Verve Forecast from June 24^th). Before we get to the album, I do want to stress because of this Christmas article that she does have a Christmas EP as a special iTunes-only download. It comes bundled with "See How I Run (Radio Mix)" and the video for "Was I On Your Mind". Three songs and video for $2, considering that Apple sells individual video for $2 - so this is actually a pretty good deal.

I did end up checking out the video for "Was I On Your Mind" via the poor quality of youtube. The video looks to me like a cross between sexy and smarts (Baylin in bed with an apartment full of books... and, erm, candles).

As for "That's What I Want for Christmas", this song is a reworking of an old jazz standard. I couldn't find anyone else doing the song, but probably the most famous version is by Nancy Wilson (missnancywilson.com). Miss Nancy Wilson might be best known for being the host of NPR's Jazz Profiles, a show that I subscribe to.

What I like about all the versions that I've heard, is that the song is simply a love song about wanting love instead of gifts, all wrapped around a classic Christmas big band-esque arrangement. Well, except for the cover by country/western act SHeDAISY (shedaisy.com/myspace.com), which sounds more pop.

Jessie Baylin's choice in cover should give you an insight on her influences, which apparently consists of classic jazz/pop women singers, such as Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.

I couldn't find any details about her previous releases (according to wikipedia she released You, an album of "intimate, stylish amalgam of pop, jazz, blues, Western swing"). Although they said the album was available on iTunes, I couldn't find it.

Jessie Baylin-You

Fortunately, I do have her Part Of You EP, which has the "You" song. There's definitely a kind of rootsy feel to the EP (with a bit of guitar picking in there).

There's really no information on how you can purchase Part of You, all the searches I did all point to her major-label debut album, Firesight.

My favorite songs on Firesight is "By Any Rules" and "See How I Run" (which I think gave such a good impression as the first song). "See How I Run" has a catchy melody, and I thought the album version sounded just fine... but apparently they remixed it for a radio version.

I can see why Baylin decided to go with "Was I on Your Mind" as the video, it's poppy and about longing for someone. It seems to me that most of her songs are about searching/struggling to find someone special... even though in real life she's engaged to drummer of Kings of Leon, Nathan Followill.

So expect to see more of Baylin's easy-on-the-eyes and easier-on-the-ear in the near future as she heads on tour with with Marc Broussard in January (who recently appeared on W♥M).

In the meantime, you should head over to Daytrotter and download some live tracks before she becomes too famous. She's already very popular, just check out her personal blog with heaps of followers. (An interesting thing I've noted is that she's currently listening to Glasvegas, who are appearing in a future xmas xtravaganza post).

Firesight is out now, you can find it at most retail locations. Her That's What I Want For Christmas EP is only available on iTunes for a measly $2 with video!

Links: jessiebaylin.com www.myspace.com/jessiebaylin