Stephen Henderson’s Christmas Playlist
“They can be about anything that evokes the feelings of the season.”
Every year, Detroit Today Host Stephen Henderson makes a jazz-inspired holiday soundtrack, which includes artists ranging from Ray Charles to Mahalia Jackson, Billie Holiday to The Supremes.
Until last year, it was a list of songs he shared with family and friends. But now, he’s sharing it with WDET listeners.
“There’s a couple of criteria,” says Stephen. “Of course, they have to be good songs — they almost always have to be jazz… But they don’t always have to be explicit Christmas songs. They can be about love, they can be about winter, they can be about anything that evokes the feelings of the season.”
Here’s an almost-complete Spotify playlist of the songs that remind Stephen of the Christmas season and winter: