This 15-track CD has something for everyone: the smooth vocal styling of
Billy Eckstine on "Christmas Eve," and the purring
Dinah Washington on the seductive "Ole Santa," and
Ella Fitzgerald showing her soft and sentimental side on the single, "The Secret of Christmas."
Billie Holiday, with help from
Benny Carter and
Sweets Edison, warms up the punch bowl with "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm," while
Sister Rosetta Tharpe raises the rafters on her powerful rendition of "O Little Town of Bethlehem."
Jimmy Smith and his funky Hammond B3 invigorate "Jingle Bells," adding tympani and horns, he totally reinvents "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." ~ Dennis MacDonald