Barry Manilow - A Christmas Gift Of Love (CD)

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Tracks:
1. Winter Wonderland
2. Happy Holiday / White Christmas
3. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
4. Home For The Holidays, (There's No Place Like)
5. I'll Be Home For Christmas
6. My Favorite Things
7. Christmas Waltz, The
8. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
9. River
10. What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?
11. Gift Of Love, A

Notes:
Personnel: Barry Manilow (vocals); Robbie Buchanan (arranger, conductor, keyboards); Jorge Calandrelli, Patrick Williams (arranger, conductor); John Pisano, Dean Parks, Ken Barry, Mike Thompson (guitar); Michael Lang (piano); 
Chuck Berghofer (bass); Gregg Field (drums).
Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California and The Hop, Studio City, California.
What's a nice Jewish boy doing singing about Santa? Never you mind. Barry's been doing it for a while now, and A CHRISTMAS GIFT OF LOVE turns out to be his second album of holiday music in 12 years. Although this Brooklynite plays it safe with perfectly well done versions of perennials like "Winter Wonderland" and "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," he also does a fine job going off the beaten path in seeking out unexpected holiday fare. "White Christmas" may be a best-selling Christmas song that's been done ad nauseum, but few artists perform it as a swinging medley alongside the more obscure Irving Berlin nugget "Happy Holiday." Making like a Semitic Sinatra, Manilow offers arrangements that swing hard thanks to conductors including Patrick Williams and Ray Ellis. Other surprising inclusions are Joni Mitchell's "River" conducted and arranged by the legendary Paul Buckmaster and a lush version of Frank Loesser's "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" that ends up being a nice respite from "Auld Lang Syne."