Acoustic Christmas

Words aren't required when David Grisman gets in the holiday mood. On this 1983 album, the acclaimed mandolinist strings together an assortment of holiday tunes like they're popcorn strung around an ornament-laden pine. With the likes of bassist Rob Wasserman and Bela Fleck in town, Grisman gives the dawg treatment to everything from "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" to "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," closing out, appropriately enough, with "Auld Lang Syne." With picking this tasteful, it's really rather a shame that Acoustic Christmas will inevitably be packed away for 11 months of the year. --Steven Stolder