Ultimate Soul Christmas
It would be hard to argue that Ultimate Soul Christmas isn't truly the wham-bam collection of soul, R&B, jazz, gospel, blues, and pop it claims to be. Believe it, because its 30 tracks are practically a retrospective of the United States' bedrock African American musical genres framed in a Christmas wreath. While there's lots of old-school crooning from the likes of Luther Vandross, Nancy Wilson, Alexander O'Neal, and others, plus a smattering of Motown and boy bands like Boyz II Men (ironically sounding the most dated), the vocal performances on many tracks are timeless keepers. Among them are Otis Redding's "White Christmas," Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)," Lou Rawls's swingin' and ever-so-delightful "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?", Fats Domino's "Please Come Home for Christmas," and Bebe & CeCe Winans's "Silver Bells." Of special note are Bill Withers's heartfelt and instructive "The Gift of Giving," Candi Staton's scorching "Christmas in My Heart," and Gladys Knight & The Pips' "Do You Hear What I Hear." --Martin Keller
No comments:
Post a Comment