** Jane Siberry at The Black Orchid, ( 312 ) 944-2200, Dec. 14
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'Tis almost the season and the holiday CDs are rolling in like snowplows and salt trucks. At the time of this writing, midway between Halloween and Thanksgiving, I've received at least 20 winter holiday recordings, and I anticipate more arriving before the ink dries on the dotted I's and crossed T's.
A sequel to the winter wonderful 2002 various artists compilation Maybe This Christmas, Maybe This Christmas, Too ( Nettwerk America ) , is brilliant for many reasons, not the least of which is the Rufus Wainwright opening track in which he sings about the 'poor little rich boys' and 'poor little rich girls.' Yet another Texas band ( were there this many bands from Texas before Dubya became prez? ) , Eisley sings the warm 'Winter Song' and Canadian songbirds Avril Lavigne & Chantal Kreviazuk have a religious experience on 'O Holy Night.' Damien Rice & Lisa Hannigan take some liberties with 'Silent Night' and Omaha scenesters Rilo Kiley serve up a slice of 'Xmas Cake.' The nice Jewish boys of Guster ask the musical question 'Donde Esta Santa Claus?' and rising folk divas The Be Good Tanyas sing about 'Rudy.' Barenaked Ladies 'bundle themselves up against the cold' on 'Green Christmas,' Badly Drawn Boys shares his sumptuous observations on 'Donna & Blitzen,' and The Flaming Lips light a fire under 'White Christmas.'
A dozen Christmas standards go from the martini shaker to the blender on Christmas Remixed ( Six Degrees/Rock River ) . Sub-titled 'holiday classics re-grooved,' this compilation is the right soundtrack for the gathering that includes all of your art school friends and nightclub acquaintances. Shrift does a wonderful job of remixing 'It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year' by Andy Williams, Beef Wellington presents a well-done remix of Bing Crosby's 'Happy Holidays,' and Dan The Automator jangles 'Jingle Bells' by Dean Martin. Stuhr's remix of Kay Starr's 'I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm' generates heat, as does the Mulato Beat remix of 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' by Louis Armstrong and Velma Middleton. Not since he sang 'The Little Drummer Boy' with David Bowie has the late Bing Crosby sounded as hip as he does on the Attaboy House Party Mix of 'The First Noel' and you can practically smell the chestnuts roasting on Michael Kessler's Open Fire Mix of 'The Christmas Song' by Mel Torme.
As if we needed an example that there is more than enough holiday music to fill multiple various artists Christmas CDs, the proof has arrived. The single-disc compilation Heavenly Christmas ( Rhino ) , which is notable for Linda Ronstadt's cover of Joni Mitchell's 'River' and 'The Christmas Song' sung by Chuck Brown with the late Eva Cassidy, and the double-disc collection Now That's What I Call Christmas 2 ( Capitol ) , successfully avoid any performer duplication.
After the dull, dismal and dreadful releases by American Idol competitors Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarini and Clay Aiken, respectively, could the freaky franchise be running out of steam at last? Just in case it has, the American Idol puppet-masters ( for shame David Foster and Simon Fuller ) thought they might milk some holiday dough out of the Christmas cow with American Idol: The Great Holiday Classics ( RCA/19 ) . It's amazing what Clay Aiken can do with a traditional tune ( as opposed to the pathetic new songs on his album ) and his rendition of 'The First Noel' is full of spirit. Ruben Studdard and Tamyra Gray's Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey impression on 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas' left me cold, but Ruben comes close to redeeming himself with his soulful cover of Donnie Hathaway's 'This Christmas.' Kelly Clarkson, who gets her own bonus disc, contributes something old ( 'Oh Holy Night' ) and something new ( 'My Grown Up Christmas List' ) .
Clear across the holiday music spectrum is Great Joy: A Gospel Christmas ( Sh-K-Boom ) by Broadway Inspirational Voices. Comprised of 50 members of the New York City theater community, Broadway Inspirational Voices breaks 'racial, ethnic and religious boundaries,' under the direction of Michael McElroy. Performing in ensemble and solo settings, BIV is truly inspirational in that ego never gets in the way of presentation. Roof-raising renditions of 'Joy To The World,' 'O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,' 'Go Tell It On The Mountain,' 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,' 'Some Children See Him,' and 'Have You Heard About The Baby?,' make this an enjoyable holiday CD indeed, one that you will return to for many holiday seasons to come.
Pianist and organist Eric Reed jazzes up the joyful season with Merry Magic ( MaxJazz ) , a CD of his interpretations of traditional carols, holiday standards and even an original composition. Accompanied by Rodney Green on drums, Barak Mori on bass and Steve Nelson on vibes, Reed performs 'Winter Wonderland,' 'The Christmas Song,' 'Little Drummer Boy,' and 'Christmas Blues,' and others in tasteful jazz arrangements. Vocalists Erin Bode and Paula West also provide vocals on a few tracks. Speaking of guest vocalists, Ann Hampton Callaway joins Peter Nero and the Philly Pops for a few songs on Holiday Pops! ( DRG ) .
Last year when I wrote about Carly Simon's CD Christmas Is Almost Here ( Rhino ) , I called it 'a tasteful blend of new and old songs of the season,' and said that 'Simon and co-producer Don Was have done a lovely job in giving all of the songs the right weight and importance.' It's reissued with two newly recorded tracks—'White Christmas' ( on which she is accompanied by Burt Bacharach ) and the original 'Forgive,' co-written by Andreas Vollenweider, who also plays harp on the track.
Having spent all of my Christmas holidays in the city, the closest I get to a country Christmas is by CD. Christmas With Johnny Cash ( Columbia/Legacy ) contains a dozen holiday songs from various phases in the career of the late Mr. Cash, as well as the previously unreleased track 'Christmas As I Knew It.' Cash is also one of the 20 country artists on the compilation Classic Country Christmas ( Time Life Music/BMG ) . Others include Dolly Parton ( 'Hard Candy Christmas' ) , Emmylou Harris ( 'Christmas Time's A-Comin'' ) , Brenda Lee ( 'Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree' ) , Willie Nelson ( 'Pretty Paper' ) and The Judds ( 'What Child Is This' ) , to mention a few.
On her newest Christmas album Joy For Christmas Day ( Narada ) , country diva Kathy Mattea continues her exploration of Celtic music with a lingering touch of country.
Country music and novelty songs have long been linked. Elmo & Patsy added a dash of Christmas to the country music novelty tune as you can hear on the title track of Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer ( Epic/Legacy ) , as well as 'Percy The Puny Poinsettia,' 'Senor Santa Claus,' and others.
A number of performers from the country music category also appear on the compilation Singers and Songwriters: Christmas ( Legacy ) . Emmylou Harris ( 'Silent Night' ) , The Judds ( 'Silver Bells' ) , Willie Nelson ( 'Pretty Paper' again ) , Crystal Gayle ( 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas' ) and the late John Denver ( 'Away In A Manger' ) are all represented here. Other performers of note include Rosanne Cash ( 'It Came Upon A Midnight Clear' ) , Joan Baez ( 'The Little Drummer Boy' ) , Linda Ronstadt ( 'The Christmas Song' ) , Melissa Manchester ( 'Christmas Time Is Here' ) , Art Garfunkel ( 'O Come All Ye Faithful' ) , Jose Feliciano ( 'Mary's Little Boy Child' ) and Carly Simon ( 'I'll Be Home For Christmas' ) . Willie Nelson and John Denver can also be heard on Evergreen: The Time-Life Treasury of Christmas ( Time Life Music/Sony Music ) . Other holiday favorites on this compilation include 'Do You Hear What I Hear?' by Destiny's Child, 'Baby It's Cold Outside' by Vanessa Williams and Bobby Caldwell, 'Silent Night' by Gloria Estefan, 'Three Ships' by Cyndi Lauper and 'Last Christmas' by Wham!
Speaking of Gloria Estefan, Cyndi Lauper and Wham!, some other favorites of the queer community can also be heard singing the songs of the season. Count Your Blessings ( DRG ) is the first Christmas record by Broadway diva Barbara Cook. Joined by the aforementioned Broadway Inspirational Voices on the title tune, 'O Holy Night,' 'Silent Night,' and 'May You Always,' hearing Cook sing these 15 festive numbers will make you wonder why she waited so long to record an album such as this.
Forty-five years after it was first released, Merry Christmas ( Columbia/ Legacy ) by Johnny Mathis has been reissued to include the 1961 bonus tracks 'Christmas Eve' and 'My Kind of Christmas.' Handsome piano man Jim Brickman is joined by The Blind Boys of Alabama ( on 'Let It Snow' ) and others for Peace ( Windham Hill ) , his latest CD of traditional and original holiday songs. Maureen O'Flynn, the voice of dance/opera group Operatica brings a human touch to the electronic interpretations of the tinsel tunes on Christmas Classics ( E-Magine ) . Harry Connick, Jr., whose stock in the gay community rose considerably through his portrayal of Grace's husband Leo on Will & Grace, has a new holiday CD, Harry For The Holidays ( Columbia ) , which contains a few Connick originals and a number of standards.
Carly Simon and Johnny Mathis aren't the only artists to have albums reissued in an expanded CD version. Originally self-released by Chicago in 1998, under the title Chicago 25: The Christmas Album, Chicago Christmas: What's It Gonna Be, Santa? ( Rhino ) adds six newly recorded songs just for the reissue and is sure to appeal to the band's still faithful fans.
For those whose tastes in holiday music run toward the more traditional, the Irish Tenors ( Finbar Wright, Anthony Kearns and Ronan Tynan ) are back with another CD of holiday tunes. The aptly titled We Three Kings ( Razor & Tie ) is a little lighter in feel than its predecessor, and includes more pop-oriented selections such as 'I'll Be Home For Christmas,' 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,' 'Winter Wonderland Medley,' and a totally unexpected cover of 'Fairytale of New York,' the brilliant duet originally recorded by The Pogues and the late Kirsty MacColl. Jane Siberry has shifted her holiday gaze to the classical music of the season after having attended the performance of the 'Downtown Messiah' at the Bottom Line Club in New York 'for the third year in a row.' On Shushan the Palace ( Hymns of Earth ) ( Sheeba ) , Siberry graces us with renditions of 'centuries-old hymns by Handel, Bach, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Rosetti, Holst' and others.
International superstar Nana Mouskouri throws her Christmas cap into the ring with the aptly titled The Christmas Album ( Philips/Universal Classics ) . Singing in English, Greek, French and German, Mouskouri hopes to give listeners 'an inner peace and serenity' through Christmas carols such as 'Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht,' 'Ave Maria,' 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,' 'O Tannenbaum,' and 'White Christmas,' to name a few. Finally, the eight-member female vocal ensemble The Mediaeval Baebes, apply their period tendencies to the music of the holiday season on Mistletoe & Wine ( Nettwerk America ) .
