Taylor Tote’s latest single is a cover of the holiday classic “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas.” PHOTO COURTESY OF TELEGRAPH HILL RECORDS  

COVID is trying to cancel Christmas once again, but the sweet and sultry Taylor Tote and a crackerjack band will help us overcome with warm and fuzzy feeling for the holiday classic “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas” that will last the whole year long.

The tasty treat is part of the fourth annual holiday collection by Asbury Park-based Telegraph Hill Records and is the Makin Waves Song of the Week.  

As the Makin Waves Song of the Week, “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas” also can be heard between 6 and 8 p.m. on Dec. 24 on “Radio Jersey” at ThePenguinRocks.com. 

The 2021 Makin Waves Female Artist of the Year (link to Makin Waves Awards), Taylor most frequently works with sidemen Michael Squillace on saxophone and Tom Briant on guitar. They bring a strong, sexy jazz sensibility to the Christmas chestnut that makes it irresistible on the replay tip. 

Taylor’s band also includes Telegraph label heads Joe Pomarico, who appears in the video in a Santa suit playing sleigh bells, and Matt Fernicola, front man of the great Foes of Fern, another contributor to the Christmas comp, which can be enjoyed in its entirety here.

“Our version of ‘It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas’ was produced by Russell Hayden and Joe Pomarico,” Taylor said. “It was important to me to have Michael Squillace and Tom Briant a part of this project as well since they’ve been a really big part of my comeback since the pandemic. I was also very excited to feature Matt Fernicola on bass. Everyone of these guys are my very good friends, and I’m always excited to work with people I’m close with. It was a great way to wrap up the year on Telegraph Hill’s Christmas compilation.“

In addition to Taylor, as well as Foes’ “Auld Lang Syne,”  the comp includes: Bobby Mahoney (“Father Christmas”), Alexander Simone & WHODAT? (“My Favorite Things/Carol of the Bells”), Natalie Farrell (“Baby, It’s Cold Outside”), Malibu (Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)), Ashley McKinley (“When I Get Home”), Patty C (“It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way”), Des & the Swagmatics (“Next Christmas”), Carina Leigh (“River”), Keith Egan (“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”), Jarod Clemons & the Late Nights (“Christmas Love Until It’s Gone”), and Kate Dressed Up (“White Christmas”).

All also are featured at Telegraph Hill Records' YouTube Channel with videos of their own. Each was produced by Telegraph Hill with All Love Productions and most were shot on location at the picturesque Georgian Court University in Lakewood. 

As for Taylor, she will open for Almost Queen on Feb. 5 at The Strand Theater, Lakewood. Tickets are available for purchase online.

For more info about her, visit www.taylortote.com. 

Bob Makin has produced Makin Waves since 1988. Follow Makin Waves on Facebook and contact Bob at makinwaves64@yahoo.com.