Rock 'n' roll holiday, with a comfy sweater

Reviewed December 2008

Alternating between a velvety Andy Williams/Perry Como holiday groove and her own trademark blues-tinged rock sound, Sheryl Crow's first holiday release manages to pay homage to holiday traditions without being fenced in by them.

What makes this album such a fun listen is the unusual arrangements she brings to the Christmas standards. Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song" gets turned into a soul jazz/ska number, "White Christmas" and "Blue Christmas" both get a horn chorus that gives them the feel of a couple of vintage cuts from a mid-1970s Chicago album, while the R&B classic "Merry Christmas, Baby" is pure Sheryl Crow.

And "I'll Be Home for Christmas"? It's a modern take on Andy Williams, with that gorgeous voice of hers nestling itself in front of a roaring fire with a cup of hot cocoa.

Review by Jim Trageser. Jim is a writer and editor living in Escondido, Calif., and was a contributor to the "Grove Press Guide to Blues on CD" (1993) and "The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Blues" (2005).