I had the family around for dinner Christmas two years ago, and in addition to thinking about food, drinks and decorations, I had to consider what music to play to create the right mood. I left the choice of music until the last minute because I was convinced that I would easily find something appropriate at my local supermarket or at one of the specialist music stores.
But I was disappointed! There was quite a selection of Christmas music, including collections of carols covered by pop stars and old crooners. But I did not really find anything to appeal to the RnB, Jazz and Ragga ears of my crew. I logged onto trusty old Amazon.com and found a few, but it was already too late to buy anything in time for Christmas 2002! I also searched my favourite messageboards to see what the Brothas and Sistas were saying, and found a thread bemoaning this same absence of Black-British-friendly Christmas music that I had noticed.
I resolved there and then that I would address the issue for Christmas 2003 and beyond! No, I was not going to produce my own Christmas songs - you never want to hear me sing karaoke! Nor was I going to create my own collection CD of titles sung by my favourite Black artists - the copyright issues are too complex for me!!
Instead, I chose to create a website with links to some of the best Christmas CDs that I have found featuring Black artists. This page is the result!
It includes links to Christmas albums by Ashanti, Babyface, Whitney Houston, etc; even from oldies such as Stevie Wonder, Boney M and the O'Jays; old Christmas collections from Mowtown and other recording studios; some smooth Jazz collections; some Reggae collections - yes!; and some of the more common variety that you will readily find in the shops but which feature a reasonable number of Black artists.
Follow the links on the left of this page to look at the album covers and make your choices. Then seek them out from your favourite music retailers, or simply use the links to buy right now from Amazon.co.uk.
Merry Christmas 2004!