Christmas in the Northwest 9, various artists (Children's Music Fund)

This 2006 album, and its eight predecessors, raise money for the benefit of children's hospitals in Seattle, Spokane, Portland and Bend, OR. As you might guess, it's a well-organized effort with sponsorships from a dozen radio stations and several community businesses and institutions. This isn't a rock-out kind of album, but it's very contemporary in an AAA-Americana kind of way. The Coats' "Deck the Halls" is a Rockapella sort of approach, only with instruments; RyeHollow's "I Saw Three Ships" is a slow rocker; "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by Ian McFeron is a country polka; and Late Tuesday's "Up On the Housetop" might remind you of Cowboy Junkies. Horror of horrors, Kenny G turns up here with "Winter Wonderland." Katie Freeze writes two originals for this disc, "How Many Angels" by Catherine Hessler and "Baby in a Manger" by The Hope, both ballads. Doxology goes funky on "My Favorite Things" and Brenda White wraps up with yet another ballad, the title song. Good music for a good cause.