A Rita Coolidge Christmas CD

I tell my kids every year that we can start playing Christmas music after Thanksgiving, but not before that.  This time of year is so busy and often stressful, there’s no need to join the likes of many stores and start celebrating too early.  This year I did make an exception for a review opportunity to listen just one week before my usual rule!

Two time Grammy Award winner Rita Coolidge has signed with 429 Records and released her first project for the label, “A RITA COOLIDGE CHRISTMAS.” Working with her band featuring John McDuffie (guitar), John Thomas (keyboards), Lynn Coulter (drums) and Randy Landas (bass), Coolidge has put together a 12 track set of standards and several originals that seamlessly blend all of the styles that have defined her solo career the past near 40 years: pop, blues, jazz, country and notably, the Native American music of her Cherokee heritage.  Like all of her musical endeavors, “A RITA COOLIDGE CHRISTMAS” is a project that comes straight from the heart reflecting the love she feels for the holiday and the many memories that are evoked by these performances.

A RITA COOLIDGE CHRISTMAS Track Listing:

1. Rockin’ Around The Xmas Tree
2. Santa Baby
3. Let It Snow
4. Winter Wonderland
5. Baby It’s Cold Outside
6. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
7. Little Drummer Boy
8. Jingle Bell Rock
9. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
10. Circle Of Light
11. Amazing Grace
12. Love In This Room

Our Take:  The weekend before Thanksgiving, we took a road trip down to see Disneyland decorated for the holidays.  No better way to enjoy the 6 hour drive down by listening to a wonderful CD full of Christmas music to get us in the mood!  Instead of stressing me out, the music was so lovely, Rita Coolidge’s voice was joyful, soulful, and at times really sexy while she crooned away.  Knowing 90% of the songs, our car-full belted out the likes of Jingle Bell Rock and Santa Claus is Coming to Town!  My all-time favorite holiday song is Baby it’s Cold Outside and I was so happy to hear Rita’s version done so well with Lynn Coulter.  Rita can get jazzy on some songs and we all really just loved the CD.  It’s definitely going to be on in the house while we decorate the tree in the next week!
This review was made possible by Double Duty Divas and Rita Coolidge. I was provided the featured product free of charge to facilitate my review, but all opinions are 100% mine