Christmas Music, Bama Connections

The holiday season usually hits us like a good idea. You know it’s coming but you can never expect its coming.

In light of the depressing statistics on unemployment especially in the Birmingham-Hoover metropolitan area and the gloomier forecast now surfacing over Birmnigham’s budgeting woes, we decided to reflect on some of the happier, cheerful holiday albums and songs that bear a considerable amount of local qualities. You may not know it but the Magic City and its surrounding neighbors have been responsible for some good well-known and even overlooked holiday treasures. Alabama may not be the brightest spot on the map to find pop stars, but it’s definitely a worthy spot for cultivating, even grooming good talent.  Here’s hoping you go out and add a few of these stocking stuffers  to your Christmas list.

A Soulful Christmas - an Instrumental Journey
Various Artists
Huntsville’s Madison Mission Seventh-Day Adventist Church okay’d a volume of Christmas cheer on this compelling adventure of mostly-instrumental smooth jazz. Birmingham guitarist Eric Essix and Kelvin Wooten (Anthony Hamilton, Raphael Saadiq, Musiq Soulchild, Sean Simmonds) deliver their sweet touches to this jazzy affair, particularly on “Joyful Joyful,” “The First Noel” and “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” Not everything on board is vocal less. Check out Evelyn Harrigan’s “Mary Did You Know” and Michael Green’s “Little Drummer Boy.” If you enjoyed the easy-listening AC jazz of Anita Baker’s Christmas Fantasy, this collection is worth digging into.

 AVAILABLE AT:
Amazon
CDBaby

This Christmas
Martha’s Trouble
With the acoustic folk pop resembling that of Sarah Bareilles glaring in the depths of this record, Auburn,AL-based Martha’s Trouble gives a pleasant and welcoming performance on their eight-track holiday EP. There is something warm and fervent about their takes on “We Three Kings,” “Away In a Manger” and their glowing interpretation of Sir Paul McCartney’s zany “Wonderful Christmastime.” And when the band suit up for the originals: “This Christmas” and the country-rock of “Christmas In the City,” This Christmas goes well beyond their small town expectations.

AVAILABLE AT:
CDBaby
Amazon

Christmas In Your Arms
Ruben Studdard
Teaming up with local producer John Jackson, American Idol winner Ruben Studdard finds a befitting way to rearrange Alabama’s holiday gem “Christmas in Your Arms.” The country song, originally appearing on Alabama’s Christmas Vol. II album, gets a mellow, smoothed-down R&B makeover here and pleasantly introduces the song to friendlier pop and urban markets. The song was released as a digital download on December 8, 2009.

AVAILABLE AT:
Lala
Amazon

Christmas with Dottie
Dottie Peoples
Although her success has been strongly associated with her hometown of Dayton, Ohio and her associations in Atlanta, Dottie Peoples - the Stellar-Award winner who has been dubbed the “Songbird of the South” -  spent numerous summers while growing up with her grandmother in Alabama. While in Alabama, she learned from her grandmother, who sung in church services on Sunday mornings, while also learning from a field of  gospel pioneers including Dorothy Norwood and gospel pioneer Dorothy Love-Coates, a longtime Birmingham native.  Her 1995 studio album, Christmas with Dottie, boast rousing renditions of “Jesus, What a Wonderful Child,” “The Christmas Song” and the glorious original composition “The Greatest Gift of All.”

AVAILABLE AT:
Amazon
Malaco Music Group

Sounds Like Christmas
Marc Phillips
You may have never heard of him. If you’ve been in Alabama for quite sometime, you should. Well there’s no excuse now. His warm pop-coated vocals fit nicely into this tender production of holiday remakes, classic hymns and carols. Even with only eight tracks, Sounds Like Christmas does a fine job in recollecting wintry images and warm Christmas nostalgia when touching “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (co-written by Hugh Martin, native of Birmingham) and the worshipful “Mary, Did You Know?” He also goes for a gospelish jazz on “Go Tell It On the Mountain” and a playful rock ‘n roll version of  “Jingle Bells.” The album was released in 2009 - just in time for the holiday and can be accessed digitally at CDBaby.com. The Birmingham native, who has worked with Quincy Jones, Lee Greenwood and renowned songwriter Barry Mann, released his first CCM solo project Color Me His in 2003.

AVAILABLE AT:
CDBaby

Make Sure You’re Home for Christmas
Joe
Exclusively released on Oct. 13 to Target Stores, Joe’s Make Sure You’re Home for Christmas is as cozy as Joe’s albums have ever gotten. The seductive R&B crooning of his former releases are somewhat subdued here for a more traditional approach. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is revisited using a jazzy Nat “King” Cole charm (even with the double bass) and a lovely take on “Grown-Up Christmas List.” The title cut, certainly familiar territory for the singer, was originally recorded with longtime duet partner Chico Debarge while singing with the short-lived R&B group Profyle. Though the original stands out the strongest for its enduring beats and sexy swooning, the calmer revisit is worth hearing again. Joe, the son of two preachers, later moved with his traveling family to Opelika, AL as a young child and picked up on major musical influences including the Winans, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.

AVAILABLE AT:
Amazon
Target

Family Christmas
Clark Sisters
All born in Detroit, the Clark Sisters still know their roots are grounded deep in Alabama soil. The three-time Grammy-award winning family group, best known for their 1983 disco/gospel smash “You Brought the Sunshine,” deliver their latest Christmas collection and also bring in some of their beloved family members including urban gospel sensations J. Moss and Kierra Sheard along with traditional gospel singer Bill Moss, Jr. By far the most surprising event on the disc is their cutesy reinterpretation of “The Chipmunk Song.” The album also includes warming interpretations of “Do You Hear What I Hear,” Oh Come Emmanuel” and J. Moss’s take on Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas.” Dr. Mattie Moss Clark, renowned gospel pioneer and mother to all four of the group’s members, was born in Selma, Ala.

 AVAILABLE AT:
Amazon

We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Take 6
The legendary gents (formally assembling as a group on the grounds of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Ala.) continues to amaze generations with their closely-knitted harmonies. And for the holidays, Take 6 remains the most perfect set of carolers known to modern jazz and pop music. We Wish You a Merry Christmas, the group’s second holiday effort, is virtually impossible to bash due to the energetic, creative twists anchored on the Kirk Whalum sax duet “Let It Snow” and the glorious a capella action of the title cut (which impressively seques into “Carol of the Bells”). Song after song, Take 6 keeps the excitement coming and captures the spirit of the holiday season with each delivered note. Even if you’re not a religious buff, it’s hard to not like these melodic holiday treats from one of pop music’s greatest  sextets.

AVAILABLE AT:
Amazon

 

J Matthew Cobb is the editor-at-large of the Birmingham-based online publication PRAYZEHYMN Online.com. He is also a contributor writer and music critic for SoulTracks.com and UrbanhamFaith.

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