Gayla Peevey — I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas, on The Ed Sullivan Show, October, 1953.

Composer, scholar, teacher and worldwide performer, Pandit Ravi Shankar passed away Tuesday at the Scripps Hospital, in La Jolla, near San Diego, California. He had been admitted on December 6th with breathing difficulties. Shankar was 92.

Perhaps more than any other artist of the 20th century, his performances around the world gained global acceptance for Hindustani music. His collaborations with non-Indian musicians, spanning over half a century, made him an early crossover figure. Shankar was one of the first musicians of the foremost rank whose role in emerging post World War II culture not only created what became known as “world music,” it helped make that label a powerful one.

IT’S EVERYWHERE! OMG! The 12-12-12 Concert for Hurricane Sandy Relief, benefiting the Robin Hood Fund, the largest independent poverty fighting organization in the New York area, is being broadcast and streamed on almost every major website and TV channel in the US, and is accessible to over 2 billion worldwide. Heck it’s even on the Cooking Channel! And the Military History Channel. Maybe Israelis and Palestinians will bond over Billy Joel and Kanye West, and we’ll have world peace as well as raising fund to help Hurricane Sandy relief efforts!

And we’re here liveblogging it with you, from the opening (rumored to be Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band) to the close (PaulMcCartney takes on Kurt Cobain’s role in Nirvana. Please no one introduce him to Courtney Love!).

There is a BBC Documentary on the development of Southern Rock, called Sweet Home Alabama – The Southern Rock Saga. While watching this, I learned about the history and recording of another version of Hey Jude, performed by Wilson Pickett and Duane Allman in 1969, just months after its release. It is an example of musicians as activists, in a peaceful demonstration that music, as well as tragedy, are colorblind. Please give it a listen, because it is difficult to find a song that is so deeply moving.

Beaker — Ode To Joy, from Muppet Studios.

Vince Vance & the Valiants — All I Want For Christmas Is You.

Dean Martin — Christmas Blues.

Brubeck wasn’t just a crusader for rhythm. During his service in World War II, Brubeck was spotted playing a Red Cross show and ordered to form a band. Brubeck chose a racially integrated lineup, a rarity for military acts. During the 1950s and ’60s, Brubeck is reported to have canceled appearances at venues that balked at the mixed racial makeup of his quartet.

Stephen Colbert — Another Christmas Song, from A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!

CeeLo Green and The Muppets — All I Need Is Love.