Jane Monheit’s inherent romanticism was custom made for holiday albums such as this. Pianist Dave Benoit recently teamed up with her for a poppish album, but this one withhis teammates Jamey Tate/dr and David Hughes/b hits all the cylinders just right. Monheit beams through tunes such as “Santa Claus is Coming To Town” and does an impressive read of “My Favorite Things.” Things get even better when the All-American Boys Chorus joins in for a handful of tunes. They sound marvelous joining in with Sweet Jane on “Christmastiem Is Here,” and glow like a Christmas tree star on “My Little Drum” and the bossa’d read of “The Little Drummer Boy.” This one’s a keeper!
If you’re more into the Christmas party mood than a quiet night in front of the fire, Brian Setzer is your kind of guy. He’s with his swinging and rockabillying orchestra and throws around the mistletoe on this toe tapper. The band takes you to Bedrock with the Fred Flintstone themed “Yabba-Dabba Yuletide” and deliver a snappy “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” The band snaps like it’s Christmas in Memphis with a “Rockabilly Rudolph” and even “Carol of the Bells” gets a ring ding dinging. Someone spiked the egg nog on this one!
Concord Records
Surfdog Records