AMG Review of Holiday Spirits

Eric Schneider
All Music Guide

Though named after the Thelonious Monk composition, the vocal ensemble Straight No Chaser is not a jazz act -- instead, it specializes in buoyant a cappella harmonies, which are ably displayed on this 2008 holiday album. While the ten-member group from Indiana breezes through Yuletide classics such as “Jingle Bell Rock” and “Silent Night,” it also presents the concert performance that made it famous, a lively take on “The 12 Days of Christmas.”