Christmas, Howard Hewett (Groove)

Hewett, the longtime soul and gospel singer who started out in Shalamar with Jody Watley, brings his talents to the holiday for 2008. The roster of songs is mainly classic carols like "O Come All Ye Faithful," "The Christmas Song," "Silent Night," "What Child Is This," and yes he does Donny Hathaway's "This Christmas." That's one of the few uptempo songs here, other than "Christmas on Sunset (Interlude)"; most are done in ballad style, with a couple of slow jams takes on "Sleigh Ride" and "Baby It's Cold Outside," with a singer named Jasselle as his duet partner. And "Christmas Time Is Here" has a bit more of a jazz flavor. Plenty of big names came out for these sessions, with Stevie Wonder lending harmonica, the Earth Wind and Fire rhythm section providing backing, and jazz legend George Duke playing and co-producing. All told, it's what you might expect from a mature soul artist.