(Holiday Music, Soul) CD

A classic set of early jazz recordings by Nina Simone – one of her first albums ever, but already with an approach that's quite different from other singers of the time! Nina's singing a fair bit of standards here, but she brings a deeply personal approach to the material – inflecting the tunes with gospel-inspired soul, and showing some very slight folksy touches – of the sort that would come in more heavily on later records, but which is already shining pretty strongly here! Nina accompanies herself on some mighty soulful piano – with bass from Jimmy Bond and drums from Al Heath – on titles that include "Plain Gold Ring", "Good Bait", "He Needs Me", "Don't Smoke In Bed", and "I Loves You Porgy". CD features 3 bonus tracks, including the excellent groover "African Mailman" – plus "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands" and "For All We Know". (Vocalists, Soul) CD

A vintage Holiday recording from The Staple Singers – a set recorded back in the group's earliest, rootsiest days! The sound here is quite spare – no surprise, given that the session was done by Riverside Records, at a time when the label was pushing the gospel-influenced quartet onto folk audiences of the 60s – but it's also that spare quality that gives the record a timeless feel that holds up nicely. Instrumentation is just a bit of guitar from Roebuck Staples and organ from Maceo Woods, plus some drums – and titles include "The Last Month Of The Year", "Holy Unto The Lord", "The Savior Is Born", "Sweet Little Jesus Boy", "There Was A Star", "Silent Night", "O Little Town Of Bethlehem", and "No Room At The Inn". (Holiday Music, Soul) CD

Not the usual Motown Christmas set you might imagine – as the record features new material, not old Holiday soul classics – and many of the numbers are special duets recorded just for this project! The set list is impressive – way better than we were expecting – and although the cover art is a bit underwhelming, our hats are off to Motown for re-igniting the label's commitment to quality Christmas tunes! Titles include "Go Tell It On The Mountain/Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Gregory Porter & Anita Wilson, "The Christmas Song" by Ne Yo & Tasha Cobbs, "It's Christmas Time" by Smokey Robinson & Kevin Ross, "This Christmas" by Brian Courtney Wilson & Gene Moore, "Angels We Have Heard On Hihg" by Kierra Sheard & Chrisette Michele, "Mary Did You Know" by India Arie & Gene Moore, "O Holy Night" by Smokie Norful, "O Come All Ye Faithful" by Tasha Cobbs, and "Bethlehem" by Kem & Janice Gaines. (Holiday Music, Soul) CD