Among the holiday recordings available for enjoyment or for gift giving, one that deserves special attention for its fresh take on many standards is Lynn Loosier’s Christmas for My Friends. Essentially this is a jazz CD with Tedd Firth supplying novel and imaginative arrangements. Beginning with "Baby It’s Cold Outside" and ending with "Silent Night," Loosier celebrates the season and the holiday with familiar songs but also some less often heard, such as "I Wonder as I Wander" and "Mary Did You Know." With "Santa Baby" she may evoke Eartha Kitt’s famous rendition, but still makes the song her saucy own.

Loosier has a beautiful soprano voice that, when she occasionally lets it go, rings like the bells of Christmas. For the most part, however, she holds back. This restraint seems to serve two purposes. It is appropriate to some of her and Firth’s laid-back jazz arrangements. And lest this approach to some sacred" songs border on irreverence, her rhythmic and quiet versions of numbers such as Oh Holy Night" demonstrate that—jazz or not—she never loses sight of her subject.

You don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s rye bread—nor Christian to enjoy Christmas songs. Lynn Loosier’s CD will be a pleasure for all who enjoy this holiday time. Add it to your gift list.

Barbara Leavy
Cabaret Scenes
December 2007
www.cabaretscenes.org