The new Christmas sounds from Mary J. Blige & Kelly Clarkson

What an excellent year for Christmas music 2013 has turned out to be. A month ago, we got the superb Johnny Mathis singing Holiday tunes again in Sending You A Little Christmas but with a refreshing country spin. What more could you ask for after something like that? We didn’t ask but doubtless in keeping with the giving spirit of the season we still got more. And what wonderful sounds those extra presents turned out to be, A Mary Christmas by Mary J. Blige and Wrapped In Red by Kelly Clarkson.

I knew that the soulful Mary was ripe for a Christmas album after listening to her sing What Child Is This with Andrea Bocelli in the Italian tenor’s My Christmas album two years ago that was produced by David Foster. It was a showstopper. I thought then that she would be magnificent doing Christmas songs. Then last year, Mary was back with another duet, We Three Kings Of Orient Are with Rod Stewart, in Merry Christmas Baby, which, was also produced by Foster. And I thought Foster has plans for Mary.

Again she was great and I knew that it would not be long before we get Mary’s own and her very first Christmas album. And it did happen this year. And her A Mary Christmas was indeed produced and arranged by Foster and it is all that I expected it would be. It reminds me of a conversation I had with my mother a long time ago. I asked her who Mahalia Jackson was. Her answer in a hushed tone as though we were in church was, “Siya yung maganda kumanta ng Silent Night.” I would use the same hushed tone to describe Mary’s Christmas recordings. “Siya yung maganda kumanta ng Christmas.” It is not just the songs or her voice but the total effect she has on the listener. She makes you feel divine and joyful at the same time.

This is not Mary’s usual territory. It is more Foster’s turf, a mellow, middle of the road, sometimes jazzy state that appeals to a wider market. But Mary inhabits the new sound as though she was born to it. She makes me wonder what amazing things she can do with her voice should she choose to do the standards or show tunes or country.  For now though, I am content with A Mary Christmas, one of the great sounds by which I will always remember this year.

Another one is Kelly’s Wrapped In Red. There is no stretching or changing done in this case. Also her first-ever Christmas collection, Wrapped In Red, is all that you would expect a Kelly Christmas album should be, a mix of pop, country and rock and roll. And like Mary, her singing is in top form. She is truly one of the best winners that American Idol (AI) has produced and she continues to prove this with her growth as a singer and songwriter with every album she comes out with.

Aside from her singing, which is young and strong and sincere, Wrapped In Red is remarkable because of the new original songs. As everybody knows, the old songs, because of the memories they come with, are the easy favorites in any Christmas album. Name something that can trump O Holy Night. New compositions take years to attain acceptance. I do not know if any of the originals that Kelly co-wrote like Wrapped In Red or Underneath The Tree would become enduring Christmas songs of the future but they work well in this album and Wrapped in Red is fun, perky and all in all, a smooth happy ride.

A Mary Christmas includes Little Drummer Boy; Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas; My Favorite Things; This Christmas; The Christmas Song; Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer; When You Wish Upon A Star, an enchanting duet with Barbra Streisand featuring trumpet wiz Chris Botti; Mary Did You Know; Do You Hear What I Hear with Jessie J; Petit Papa Noel; The First Noel, a duet with the Clark Sisters; and Noche De Paz, a Silent Night in English and Spanish with Marc Anthony.

Wrapped In Red also includes Every Christmas; Winter Dreams (Brandon’s Song); Carats; Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas; Run Run Rudolf; Please Come Home For Christmas (Bells Will Be Ringing); Blue Christmas; Baby It’s Cold Outside, a duet with Ronnie Dunn; White Christmas; My Favorite Things; Just For Now; Silent Night featuring two great ladies of country music, Reba and Trisha Yearwood; and because what is available locally is the deluxe special edition, we also get two additional cuts, I’ll Be Home For Christmas and the Advent song, O Come O Come Emmanuel.