MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM . . .

ALICIA KEYS

Alicia Keys has been delivering her blend of piano-driven, classic soul with hip-hop beats since the turn of this century. And now Keys brings her distinctive style to her very first Christmas album, "Santa Baby", released through her own label, Alicia Keys Records and available exclusively through Apple Music. This collection is made up of seven covers of holiday standards (including her version of the title track first made famous by the legendary Eartha Kitt in 1953) and four original compositions written or co-written by the artist. Keys has created a warm and smooth soulful vibe with this album, a very fine addition to the ever expanding options available in Christmas music. Enjoy the first single and video of the original tune, "December Back 2 June" and her stylish version of the title track:

JOSS STONE

Joss Stone began her professional music career at the tender age of sixteen with the 2003 release of "The Soul Sessions", an album of soul song covers that had became popular long before she was even born. What made this acclaimed record (and Stone) so impressive is how this young blonde Brit was able to dig down deep to convey the passion of these songs, possessing a voice that was convincingly mature and soulful. Yet despite this dazzling debut, she surprisingly did not become a major presence in pop music. But the gifted Stone went on to continuously release new music that effectively brought back a feeling of vintage r&b. With "Merry Christmas, Love", the now thirty-five year old artist delivers a yuletide collection that features plenty of traditional holiday classics plus two new songs; "If You Believe" and "Bring on Christmas Day" that are both written by Stone. The first release from the album is "What Christmas Means To Me", Stone's take on the song that first appeared on Stevie Wonder's Christmas album back in 1967 and we have the live version of "Bring on Christmas Day":

MY TUNE OF THE DAY

The story goes that when Jocelyn Stoker, a British ten year old in 1997, saw a commercial for Aretha Franklin's greatest hits, she later asked her mother for it for Christmas. She received the gift and it changed her life in more ways than one. She responded to the music and learned to sing in the style of the great r&b singers.

By the time she was thirteen, she won singing contests, received a recording contract and became professionally known as Joss Stone.

Her first album, "The Soul Sessions" was released in 2003 and featured a collection of classic r&b songs. Like Teena Marie before her, her face was not featured on the album because she was white and the label wanted people to just listen to her voice and not be distracted by her race.

Joss Stone has achieved  much success, releasing four albums and selling over eleven million records worldwide to date.

This tune is from her third album, "Introducing Joss Stone" and the song barely made the Hot 100 charts in 2007 which is too bad because it's a great song.

Enjoy:

"Tell Me 'Bout It" - Joss Stone (2007)