Aretha Franklin - This Christmas, Aretha (2008)

1. Angels We Have Heard On High
2. This Christmas (with Edward Franklin)
3. My Grown-Up Christmas List
4. The Lord Will Make A Way
5. Silent Night
6. Ave Maria
7. Christmas Ain't Christmas (Without The One You Love)
8. 14 Angels
9. One Night With The King
10. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
11. Twas the Night Before Christmas

Backing Vocals – Brenda White-King, Fonzi Thornton, Shellyn Ponder, Tawatha Agee
Bass – Charles (Volley) Craig, Nathan East
Choir – Alvin Chea, Bridgette Bryant, Carmen Twillie, Clydene Jackson, Dorian Holly,
 Gerald White, Lynne Fiddmont, Oren Waters, Susie Stevens Logan, Terry Wood, Wendy Fraser
Conductor – H.B. Barnum
Drums – Arthur Marbury, Ricky Lawson 
Guitar – Matt Dahlgren, Paul Jackson Jr., Teddy Richards White
Keyboards – James "Big Jim" Wright, Timothy Heintz
Organ – Darryl Houston 
Percussion – Luis Conte, Michito Sanchez
Piano – Richard Gibbs 
Piano [Acoustic] – Aretha Franklin
Saxophone – Brandon Fields
Vocals - Aretha Franklin

The obvious title here would have been Wreatha Now, but Aretha opted to follow in the footsteps of at least 20 other artists by going with This Christmas as the title of her first Christmas album. Apart from the Donny Hathaway/Nadine McKinnor-written title track, a duet with her son Edward that is both sweet and playful (at one point, Aretha interjects, "Eddie, you mustn't upstage mom with those high notes"), the disc is filled mostly with the spiritual and relatively serious side of holiday material. The likes of "Silent Night," "Ave Maria," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," and "Angels We Have Heard on High" are given the kind of treatment only Aretha could grant, though it should be noted that there are moments where you might feel stuck inside the Aretha Melismatorium. It's not all reverence and reflection: best of all is a reading of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" that can only be termed "personalized." ---Andy Kellman, allmusic.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto gett

back