Holiday CD Roundup
December 2005 By Tad Hendrickson
A Jazz Guitar Christmas
Moon Cycle
This CD features a straight-up jazz-guitar trio taking on Christmas classics, featuring improvisation that goes beyond a bar or two--even a few bass and drum solos. Campbell does a good job of mixing up the arrangements, adding a bossa nova groove to "White...
December 2005 By Tad Hendrickson
Holiday
Higher Octave Music
When your career highlight is a stint with Jefferson Starship, artistic integrity wasn't ever part of the equation. Not that artistic integrity is a requisite for making good Christmas music, but Chaquico's new-age ambient backdrops are ponderous--just like...
December 2005 By Tad Hendrickson
Hanukkah Swings!
Favored Nations
Why should the Gentiles have all the fun? After all there's been plenty great Christmas albums by Jews (Diamond and Streisand anyone?). Eschewing a cantor's gravity, Ellis sings light swingin' traditionals as well as the patriotic-sounding original "Hanukkah...
December 2005 By Tad Hendrickson
The Greatest Holiday Classics
Arista Records
The man everyone loves to hate--or love. This greatest hits collection (he's already done three Christmas albums, people) features 12 songs from Christmases past and four new tunes for this year. He's not going to give Coltrane a run for his money on "My...
December 2005 By Tad Hendrickson
Christmas Songs
Verve
Krall gets a ton of help on her Christmas album from the well-drilled Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra as well as from the usual peeps in her own bands. The singer doesn't work too hard to sell it, preferring to stay in the pocket, and the solos are short...
December 2005 By Tad Hendrickson
I'll Be Home for Christmas
Big Bang
A straightahead small-group jazz effort with singer Nancy Reed out front, this is a solid if inoffensive effort that covers everything from the sentimental "I'll Be Home for Christmas" to the whimsical "Let It Snow" to the traditional "God Rest Ye Merry...
December 2005 By Tad Hendrickson
Family Holidays
Josh Music
After performing together in the '60s, Chuck Mangione's piano-playing older brother stayed in Rochester, N.Y., while his flugelhornist sibling went on to fame. This 17-piece big-band effort is a well-drilled affair, with some reasonably lengthy turns for...
December 2005 By Tad Hendrickson
The Season
Epic
Monheit brings a breathy innuendo to "This Christ-mas" when she purrs "This Christmas will be / A very special Christmas / For me, yeah." One wonders here what Monheit has in mind for the celebration of Christ's birth, but the Immaculate Conception isn't...
December 2005 By Tad Hendrickson
Dig That Crazy Christmas
Surfdog
Guitarist-vocalist Setzer mixes recognizable rock and big-band licks with his own hep-cat lyrics on songs like "Hey Santa!" and "Santa Drives a Hot Rod," while also covering classics like "White Christmas" and "Jingle Bell Rock." His retro-swing thing is...
December 2005 By Tad Hendrickson
A Holiday Wish
Gemini Records
Sommers looks like he could be a stand-in for Brendan Fraser (he's done some acting on the side), dresses like Chris Botti (who makes an appearance on "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas") and sounds like a more straightforward version of David Sanborn...
