Cliff Beach has given us some wonderfully homegrown projects in recent years – but here, his approach turns out to be especially well-suited to the territory of a Holiday record – as Cliff reworks a host of familiar tunes, but with this very personal blend of jazz and soul that really sends the whole thing over the top! Beach plays Rhodes and other keyboards – and gets small combo backing by a nice jazz group – who move between soulful interpretations and a few more jazz-based moments, while Cliff's raspy vocals work a special sort of magic on tunes that include "My Favorite Things", "This Christmas", "Soulful Christmas", "Merry Christmas Happy New Year", "Merry Christmas Baby", and "You're A Mean One Mr Grinch". (Holiday Music, Neo Soul) CD

A beautiful tribute to the Cali soul sound of the 70s – served up here by Robb Scott with a wonderfully groovy sound! The music here recalls that great moment when things could be tight, but never slick or commercial – maybe the productions of Larry Mizell, or the flowing soulful fusion of Patrice Rushen – and Robb handles much of the music himself on a variety of instruments, and also sings vocals – but in the best collaborative Cali spirit, he also opens the door to work with help from The Waters, Sandra St Victor, Juliet Roberts, Gina Foster, and Elisabeth Troy – all artists who lend a great sense of vocal spirit to the album. The set's nice and long – with a great mix of interludes and full songs – and titles include "Neptune Atmosphere", "Rotary Love", "Keep On", "Essaouira Wind", "Siren", "Negative Pleasures", "Hummingbird", "California Suite Revue", and "Venus In Virgo". CD