On This Night
Fans ofLinda Eder's Christmas albumwill find plenty to enjoy inOn This Night, the first Christmas album ofSam Harris, as the formerStar Searchstar turned Broadway performer delivers a rock-solid and diverse 37-minute collection. There are a number of standards--"The First Noel" with a gospel choir, "The Little Drummer Boy" with tribal percussion, "Angels We Have Heard on High" in a rich a cappella setting--but Harris also contributes some originals: the warm pop tune "All I Need This Christmas," the rocking "Santa's Blues," the haunting title song (a lament for what has happened to religion since the first Christmas night), and the anthem "A World of Difference" (celebrating the global community). Back on more familiar ground, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," accompanied by piano, is sung with all the beautiful simplicity it deserves, before "O Holy Night," also with a gospel choir, provides a majestic conclusion.--David Horiuchi