Rhonda Thomas is a modern soul singer from Atlanta, Ga., who has worked with Isaac Hayes, Roberta Flack and Luther Vandross among others and has several albums to her credit. This 2012 foray into the Christmas world is more jazz than R'nB, however. The title song, substituting "girl" for "boy" in the famous song, is a fairly imaginative reworking of the holiday favorite, and she turns Stevie Wonder's "What Christmas Means To Me" into more of a jazz ballad. "My Favorite Things" and "O Come O Come Emanuel" are given a more soulful treatment, and "Mistletoe," a duet with Eric Roberson, and "Baby It's Cold Outside," done with Alex Lattimore, are both slow jam ballads. Rhonda, despite her obvious singing talent, never divas up the proceedings, so that's a count in her favor as well. And she gets points for creating "Kwanzaa," adding another song to what is so far a slim canon. Overall, this is a fairly mellow collection.
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