CD review: Chicago “Chicago XXXIII: O Christmas Three”
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Holiday
Chicago “Chicago XXXIII: O Christmas Three” (Chicago Records II)
Venerable jazz-rockers Chicago serve up mostly smooth-as-eggnog renditions of seasonal standards on “Chicago XXXIII: O Christmas Three.”
Still, the band spikes its 33rd album and third holiday record with surprising guest stars and unexpected musical styles that sometimes enrich the album but occasionally leave an unpleasant aftertaste.
“O Christmas Three” marks the group’s first album since longtime singer/songwriter/keyboardist Bill Champlin departed in 2009. Still, Robert Lamm, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow and Walt Parazaider, who helped found Chicago back in 1967, remain with the group, with singer/bass guitarist Jason Scheff, lead guitarist Keith Howland, drummer Tris Imboden and new singer/keyboardist Lou Pardini joining them in the musical merrymaking.
Unfortunately, the band seems determined to please everyone that might stop by the party, unnecessarily muddling “O Christmas Three.” The album opens with a cover of “Wonderful Christmas Time” featuring Dolly Parton, but the Country Music Hall of Famer only drawls a few lines of the horn-centric rendition of the Paul McCartney favorite. BeBe Winans is a more likely match for the Chicago sound, but both the gospel crooner and the band’s signature horns sound uninspired rather than mellow on The Carpenters hit “Merry Christmas, Darling.”
But Chicago partners with fellow classic rockers America for a tunefully joyous version of the traditional carol “I Saw Three Ships,” and guitar great Steve Cropper helps make the playful R&B original “Rockin’ and Rollin’ on Christmas Day” an album highlight. The band cranks up the guitars along with the brass on a rollicking cover of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”
The group’s calypso-inspired reinterpretation of “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” may never supplant Andy Williams’ original classic, but the steel drum flourishes are irresistibly fun. The same can’t be said for the incongruous Brazilian jazz rendition of “My Favorite Things,” which attempts to match frenetic Latin beats with the show tune’s cozy imagery.
— BAM
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