CD Review

Artist: Various (Compilation)

CD: Holiday Slow Jams

Release Date: September 30^th, 2008

Record Label: (EMI/Capitol Records)  

Reviewed by: Gabor Pertic (Toronto Correspondent – Canada)

Well friends, it’s getting colder. Soon Halloween will be over and every store in the nation is going to dump all there orange and black décor and swap it for red and green. And just as the red/green decorations are staples of Christmas, so too is the Christmas compilation album. There are countless albums devoted to songs about the Holidays and, this year, some of the best smooth R & B singers are packed together on Holiday Slow Jams.

So, when it comes time to start curling up by the fireplace (or the fireplace screensaver you downloaded on your computer), how does this compilation measure up to the thousands of other Christmas albums? Well, for one thing, this isn’t your family sing-along compilation. The album cover artwork is a close-up of an attractive couple moments before a sensual kiss (with a frosted snowflake graphic on the border, presumably to show that it is in fact the cold Holiday season). The image is an appropriate visual for the sound of the album, as Luther Vandross, Bobby Womack, and others help set the mood for a cozy night in.

The majority of the tracks sound fantastic as old holiday standards are covered by timeless voices. Al Green’s take on “O Holy Night” is as good a version as you can find. Lou Rawls’ “Silent Night” has a barely-there acoustic guitar and hushed back-up singers, but the song could’ve easily been carried with his calm, cool baritone. The O’Jays take on “The Christmas Song” is a trip well worth taking, and if John Legend ever releases a Christmas album, there’s no doubt it’ll sound like this track.

So that’s the fellas, but how about the ladies? Well, aside from Nancy Wilson’s sublime “Christmas Waltz”, the women featured here are just not up to par. Faith Evans (who for someone reason comes up twice) over-sings on overlong arrangements of “O Come, All Ye Faithful” and “Happy Holiday” and Dianne Reeves’ rendition of “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” manages to take out all the inherent emotion within the song. The latter is a simple, gorgeous song of someone dreaming to go home and yet Reeves sounds like she’s fine, right where she is.

We’re about two months away from Christmas and if you have got someone lined up to link arms with in your warm wool sweaters, Holiday Slow Jams provides the songs you need to get the mood just right. The tracks here are done by some of the masters of that smooth, lovin’ sound and, for the most part, they don’t disappoint. And once the presents have been open, the O’Jays return to finish off the album by asking, appropriately, “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?”

Track Listing:

1) Every Year, Every Christmas (Luther Vandross) – 5:06

2) O Come, All Ye Faithful (Faith Evans) – 3:39

3) O Holy Night (Al Green) – 3:43

4) I’ll Be Home For Christmas (Dianne Reeves) – 5:25

5) My Favorite Things (The Whispers) – 3:04

6) Merry Christmas, Baby (Charles Brown) – 2:56

7) The First Noel (BeBe & CeCe Winans) – 6:03

8) Happy Holiday (Faith Evans) – 5:21

9) White Christmas (Bobby Womack) – 3:13

10) The Christmas Song (The O’Jays) – 4:58

11) Silent Night (Lou Rawls) – 2:22

12) The Christmas Waltz (Nancy Wilson) – 2:44

13) Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (The Whispers) – 5:43

14) What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve (The O’Jays) – 5:14