Wednesday, December 10, 2014

CMC Day 10: At Christmas by James Taylor

My love for Christmas music is almost exceeded by my love for James Taylor. Bring the two of them together and magical things happen.

At Christmas is a compendium of 14 holiday tunes sung in fine style, with a little help from guest artists including Chris Botti (Winter Wonderland) and Natalie Cole (Baby, It's Cold Outside). The instrumentation throughout is more orchestral than the usual Sweet Baby James, but it works.  A couple of earlier Taylor Christmas recordings exist, but this is the most comprehensive.

There's not a lot to say about this collection except that it's vintage JT, the arrangements are fairly straightforward, and if you're a Taylor fan, you'll love it. End of story. For what it's worth, my faves are Go Tell it on the Mountain, an Auld Lang Syne that is perfectly captures the old tune's bittersweet vibe, Who Comes this Night?, and a bluesy cover of Jingle Bells. Put it on, play it all the way through, then repeat. 

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