Everything You Want for Christmas
Lay in a good round of cosmopolitans, ditch the rug and get ready to turn 2004 into 1944 with these retro swing kings. In an album where horns are king, the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy Christmas disc will please fans and remind the elders that the big band sound has not left the building. While singer Scotty Morris is a bit too mannered at times, he does an adequate job of covering the Yule's coolest, including "Blue Christmas," "Merry Christmas Baby" and "Is Zat You Santa Claus?" and can write a seasonal tune worth returning to every year: Highlights include Morris' own "Rockabilly Christmas," the timeless "Christmas Time in Tinsel Town" and "Last Night (I Went Out with Santa Claus)." But with the Daddy's baritone sax master Karl Hunter blazing and the rhythm section fanning the yule log on "Jingle Bells (Cha Cha)," this might be the disc to jumpstart your holiday party -- even before Thanksgiving dinner gets in the oven.--Martin Keller