A mighty jazzy Christmas from the Count Basie Orchestra – already great on their own in an instrumental mode – but joined here by a few different singers, including Carmen Bradford, Ledisi, and Johnny Mathis – all of whom add a little extra sparkle to the tunes! Pianist Ellis Marsalis also gets plenty of time in the spotlight – stretching out in the lead on piano on a few tunes, in a mode that recalls Basie's vamping in years past – and titles include "Let It Snow", "It's The Holiday Season", "Good Swing Wenceslas", "Winter Wonderland", "The Christmas Song", "Sleigh Ride", "Little Drummer Boy", and "Have Yourself A Merry Christmas". CD

A sparkling Christmas set from Mary J Blige – one that takes full advantage of those wonderful vocals, and lets them loose on a whole host of Holiday tunes! The album's on Verve, and has a feel that's a lot more classic than some of Mary's other work – a vibe that's somewhere between contemporary R&B and the older vocal jazz you'd hear on Christmas favorites from years past – an approach that comes through strongly in Mary's choice of tunes. Most of the numbers are favorite standards from the Holiday season, given a special Blige twist – arranged by David Foster, and titles include "Little Drummer Boy", "My Favorite Things", "This Christmas", "The Christmas Song", "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer", "Do You Hear What I Hear", "The First Noel", and "Petit Papa Noel". CD