The Blind Boys have celebrated Christmas before, and for their 2014 return to the holiday they join with celebrated bluesman Taj Mahal. The resulting album draws on blues and gospel, not surprisingly, and features a number of original tunes written by the Blind Boys themselves with Taj. The opener, "Do You Hear What I Hear," is a radical revision of the carol as a loping rock shuffle and gets things off to a great start. Taj takes lead vocal on the original ballad "What Can I Do," which the press release states includes songwriting assistance from William Bell, of "Every Day Will Be Like a Holiday" fame, along with "Who Will Remember," another ballad, this one offering a taste of 60s soul, and "There's a Reason We Call It Christmas," a mid-tempo tune that is self-explanatory. "Talkin' Christmas" is a funky exhortation to help others on the holiday, "The Sun Is Rising" and "Jesus Was Born" have a bit of Tex-Mex sway to them, and "Merry Christmas" is a nicely uptempo number with Taj adding some of that chicken-picking guitar. The group, and Taj, also do such gospel tunes as "Christ Was Born on Christmas Morn" in a ragtime style and "No Room at the Inn" in a more traditional gospel style. They also take an acoustic folk approach to "Silent Night." This compares well to the Blind Boys' previous Christmas album, with a less produced, more rootsy feel than that collection.
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