Christmas

Holiday music is a great tradition for vocal groups everywhere, so it seems a natural choice for a cappella quintet Rockapella. The rock-pop-jazz group that went from cult favorite to national Folgers Coffee phenomenon fills their first Christmas album with the standards you'd expect ("Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "The Christmas Song") as well as three originals by member Scott Leonard: "The Hope You Hold," "Christmas Without You," and "Hold Out for Christmas" (a lovely ballad that had been included on their J-Bird debut). While the album as a whole is somewhat conservatively tilted toward jazz and doo-wop sounds, they enjoy a bit of whimsy with "Glow Worm," and fans of big bass Barry Carl will especially enjoy his featured spot on the funkiest track, "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch." --David Horiuchi