This Christmas by Clairdee

Growing up, I was saturated with R&B, blues, funk, rock and pop. I had many professional opportunities to sing all of these styles, as well as country and gospel during my formative years in the midwest. Revisiting these roots has carried the energy and excitement of those times forward into my adult love affair with jazz."

This breadth of stylistic sensibilities is well illustrated on THIS CHRISTMAS, as is Clairdee's artful ability to expand and reshape classic material into her own distinctive sound. Her sound? Take the sassy irreverence of Carmen McRae and Betty Carter and combine it with Sade's sophisticated understatement and the silky elegance of Natalie Cole, and you'll hear Clairdee.

You'll hear Clairdee gleefully transform Charles Brown's blues composition, "Bringing In A Brand New Year," into a rejoicing gospel jazz affirmation. A celebratory tone is set immediately as Clairdee swaps phrases with vocalists Brenda Boykin and Nicolas Bearde. "It was easy to create a party atmosphere with Brenda and Nic. We spent as much time laughing as we did singing!"

And it will be hard to stay off of the dance floor once the irrepressible samba groove of "Winter Wonderland" begins. A Brazilian samba in midwinter? "I've always thought that the tropics make the perfect holiday season escape," Clairdee insists, "this track will transport you directly to your favorite beach."

If the equatorial sun doesn't warm your winter soul, Clairdee and Nicolas Bearde really turn up the heat with a steamy, seductive rendition of Frank Loesser's classic, "Baby, It's Cold Outside." "Our chemistry became so hot in the studio that even the nonsmoking recording engineer was craving a cigarette at the end!"

Thad Jones', "A Child Is Born," sets an entirely different emotional mood with an exquisite "Take-6" style vocal harmony treatment. "This song means a lot to me spiritually and as a parent," says Clairdee. "The ethereal quality of the vocal choir lifts me up to that place of gratitude."

Performing in Paris, across the US and Japan in the new millennium, Clairdee brings home a holiday hit with the exuberant THIS CHRISTMAS, guaranteed to warm even a Grinch's heart and send you dancing into the new year.

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