by contributing writer Michael P. Coleman
Nine time Grammy winner Mary J. Blige has delivered a truly magical Christmas album with her new A Mary Christmas (Verve). Produced and arranged by the legendary David Foster, the album has the potential to serve as one of your holiday soundtracks for many years to come.
She kicks things off with an extremely reverent version of “Little Drummer Boy” and breezes through the first half of the album with ease, delivering heartfelt versions of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” and “My Favorite Things”. Her cover of Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas” is the rare cover that conveys the fun of the original, and her “The Christmas Song” rivals Nat “King” Cole’s quintessential version.
MJB stumbles a little with “Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer”, trying a big band arrangement that doesn’t quite take off like she wanted it to. Note to Blige: if you have to yell “That was fun!” at the end of a Christmas song, it probably isn’t.
The singer redeems herself with duets with british pop singer Jessie J (“Do You Hear What I Hear?), gospel legends The Clark Sisters (“The First Noel”), latin sensation Marc Anthony (“Noche De Paz – Silent Night”), and Barbra Streisand (“When You Wish Upon A Star”) during which she displays a stunning command of a variety of musical genres (not to mention Spanish and French). The latter is not your typical Christmas song (originally recorded in 1940 for the animated Disney classic “Pinocchio”), but the lyric lends itself to a traditional holiday album, and Blige & Streisand sound stunning together.
“My fans have been asking me for a holiday album, and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” MJB says. Speaking of his work with Blige, Foster says he “…knew we could do something that would be very special, and would perhaps be outside of her comfort zone, but not outside of what she’s capable of.”
In many ways, Blige’s newest project is the classic Christmas album many of us waited for from Whitney Houston. (Yes, I remember her holiday album from 10 years ago, and I stand by my statement.) Pick up A Mary Christmas, pour some egg nog or a class of merlot, and get your holiday season started.
Email MPC at mikelsmindseye@me.com or follow him on Twitter: @ColemanMichaelP
