Notable CDs

Clarence Fountain is still MIA, Paul Beasley is still too squeaky, and Taj Mahal is content mainly to play instruments. But someone (Ricke McKinnie? Ben Moore?) is doing a pretty good Fountain impersonation, Beasley’s solo mic time is limited, and Mahal’s deep black-diaspora roots are a perfect complement to the more circumscribed but equally deep roots of the Boys. Of the half-dozen originals, only “There’s a Reason We Call It Christmas” has the makings of a standard. But what a standard-in-the-making it is.

Chistmas Music on the Road

This acoustic-guitar-playing North Carolinian clearly understands Christmas music’s unique and uniquely delicate appeal. Rather than rushing in where angels fear to tread, he walks softly, respecting the melodies of his predominantly sacred program while subtly adding quietly expressive touches of his own. Lee’s occasional co-guitarist Sam Pacetti and the interminably featured female vocalists Judy Gray, Angelique Dee, and Robin Shuford likewise avoid melodrama. Shuford’s performance of the devotional “Keep Me Hungry” is a highlight. But the eight nonvocal performances are every bit as eloquent.

A Very Maysa Christmas

Maysa’s credits include singing backup for Stevie Wonder and lead for the British outfit Incognito. But a familiarity with her résumé is no prerequisite for enjoying these transformations of mostly pop sentimental favorites into tastefully sumptuous Christmas fare. What is: a sweet tooth for every popular American black musical style short of the blues and an openness to the possibility that Chris “Big Dog” Davis is the most capable R&B producer since Quincy Jones. Even Jigz’ cameo “A Visit from St. Nicholas” rap feels right at home.

Home For the Holidays

Less a continuation of Rucker’s post–Hootie & the Blowfish country career than a pleasant detour, this album’s well-mannered professionalism might pass unnoticed altogether were it not for the Rucker original “What God Wants for Christmas.” Not only does the song break up an otherwise predictable flow, but it also suggests that full churches and undusty Bibles might have something to do with bringing about peace on Earth—and that “What do you give Someone who gave his only Son?” might not be a rhetorical question.

Spotlight

On 2013’s Now, Then & Forever, Earth, Wind & Fire’s remaining members—Philip Bailey, Ralph Johnson, Verdine White—strove mighty mightily to recapture their peak-period glory but failed. Now with Holiday (Legacy) they succeed. Granted, given the subject, there was no pressure to come up with new material—not counting “December” (a re-write of their 1978 hit “September”), “Happy Seasons” is the only original (message: Jesus is the reason for the season). But, lest the project feel perfunctory, they did have to devise EWF-worthy arrangements. And to that challenge they’ve proved more than equal.

It’s not so much that they imbue “Joy to the World,” “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “What Child Is This?,” “The Drummer Boy,” et al. with inventive, funky pizzazz as that they make doing so sound as natural as trimming a tree. And no cut makes like the shining star at the top more brilliantly than the irresistible rendition of the Japanese song “Snow.”