Diana Krall [ tickets ] swings like nobody's business on what will likely be the best holiday jazz record of the season.

What makes this album truly special is the fact that it holds up as both a Christmas album and as a jazz record. It's perfect for chestnut-roasting weather, but I could also see spinning it in mid-July just for kicks. It's not mere hyperbole to say that this record sounds like an instant classic.

Backed by the sensational Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra for most of the album, the Canadian-born vocalist scats like Satchmo on a ringing version of "Jingle Bells" and then channels Ella with "Let It Snow." It's hard to remember a cooler version of "Winter Wonderland" or a jazzier rendition of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."

When the singer isn't filling up-tempo songs with holiday cheer, she's absolutely melting her way through snowy-weather classics like "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "White Christmas." Her version of "I'll Be Home for Christmas" is achingly beautiful. The album's finest moment, however, is the bluesy take on "The Christmas Song," which sounds so intimate that you might swear the sexy singer is crooning exclusively for you at of midnight on Christmas Eve.