reviews• u Verve Presents: The Very ·- Beautiful Best of Christmas Jazz

LESLEY McCALL Garbage staff writer Smooth, cool jazz ... Christmas style? It definitely works in this compilation, which features some all-time jazz greats doing holiday interpretations. Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme, John Coltrane and Count Basie are just a few of the musicians getting into the Christ- mas spirit. Louis Armstrong's "Zat You, Santa Claus?" is an especially fun Christ- mas jingle (though Armstrong' hoarse voice would probably care small children). Torme does a mean cover of "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" (apparently also known as "The Chri tmas Song"). Coltran ' version of "Gr ensleeve " i sure to get you into the Chri tmas mood. Not all song are ncc- es arily Christ-related, though. "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow" by Jo Williams i nice Various**** Artists for some nondenominational cheer. The same Verve Presents: The Very can be aid for the d ligh tfu I cla sic, "Winter Best of Chrismas Jazz Wonderland." This disc would make a great gift for parents or grand parents this holiday season - thank , arcade, for hooking me up with something to give mine! Your Woman

LESLEY MCCALL staff writer Poor Sunshine Anderson. Ev ry other song on her , Your Woman, is a variation on the main them : "My man ucks and been cheatin' on me, he got some other baby mama but still wanna get wit me." Thi record might have be n even b tter than it i if those ongs with the ame th me (perfectly acceptable) didn't all ound th same FILE PHOTO This is Garbage I Oh, um, wail ... (not acceptabl ). Slow groove pr dominate, with Ander on's gritty HENRY RIEKENA voice gracefully lamenting th tat of her per onal life. Managed by Reviews Editor Macy Gray, And r on co-wrot or wrote most of th ongs on Your Woman and is obviou ly talented, if not diver e. Like main tream rap All it really needs is more pictures of . Garbage's new album, Beau ti- album , there ar in trumental int rludes and spoken-word skits ful Garbage, has almost everything-some classic Garbage ongs, evidence of om new influences and experimentation, and even an interactive program that 1 ts y u r mix inter p rs d among the ong . Th ar fun and break up the songs from the album instead of studying for final - but it only ha on rath r unflat- monotony of th homog nou , standard R&B ballad . tering black and white photo of their greate ta t. Don't get me wrong, Garbag ha a Th fir t singl from Your Woman, "H ard It All B for ," is lot more going for them than just a hottie lead inger, and I certainly pick d up the album xcell nt: it ha a fa t r t mpo than mo t of th oth r ong and i a for the music, not for the pictures inside. But, c' mon guys, if you got it, then you might great, funkifi d tribut to v ry woman who's ick of being ch ated as well flaunt it. on. "Play d th fool b for ... but your Ii s ain't working now, I had That aside, Beautiful Garbage i a solid effort. Like th group' previous album , Beau- to hut you down," sh ings. Ext nsive radio play of this song tiful Garbage is composed mo tly of fa t-paced ongs with bouncy melodics and powcr- h lpcd th' album d but in th U.S. Top 5 ba kin April, and il has chord overlays, with a few low ballads thrown inf r vari 'ty.. The album rilso sc 'S th sold well sine . Unforlunat ly, the majority of songs n Your Wo1111111 band stretching beyond its previous boundari sand exploring new musical territory are not of th s

14 12.07.01 reviews arcade