Article published Sunday, December 9, 2007
MUSICAL SPIN ON THE HOLIDAYS
New seasonal discs are plentiful, diverse
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE STAFF WRITER
This year’s selection of holiday discs is as varied — and colorful — as the lights on a Christmas tree. Along with the traditional styles of Christmas carols are smooth jazz, country, hip-hop, Latin, and orchestral productions.
Together with the diversity and high expectations from such bankable artists as Josh Groban and Michael W. Smith come a few surprises.
Joan Osborne, for example, is best known for her 1995 hit single “One of Us,” but sounds at the top of her game despite not appearing in the charts for awhile. The fact that the Captain & Tennille are still recording new music is also a surprise, although the 1970s duo’s new disc sounds like a retread.
Here’s a roundup of some of the notable new holiday releases:
“A CHRISTMAS FIESTA,” Jon Secada (Big3). Multiple Grammy Award-winning vocalist Secada defies logic by making “Let It Snow” sound perfectly at home in a tropical setting. Secada injects elements of reggae, cumbia, salsa, meringue, and Bachata into holiday favorites, putting new Latino-dance-step-energy into “Jingle Bell Rock,” “This Christmas,” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” as well as the one perennial Latin Christmas favorite, “Feliz Navidad.”
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