Personnel: Luther Vandross, Brenda White-King (vocals); John Clayton (conductor); Marcus Miller (conductor, Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards, bass); Paul Jackson, Jr., Phil Hamilton (guitar); Peter Dimitriades (concertmaster); Jason Miles (strings, synthesizer, drum programming); Dick Oatts (saxophone); Clarence Clemons (tenor saxophone); John "Skip" Anderson (piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano, keyboards, synthesizer, drums); Nat Adderley, Jr. (piano, keyboards); Ivan Hampden (keyboards, drums); Reed Vertelney (keyboards, drum programming); Eric Caudieux (synthesizer); Luico Hopper, Eluriel Tinker Barfield (bass); Errol "Crusher" Bennett, Steve Kroon (percussion); Cissy Houston, Cindy Mizelle, Tawatha Agee, Paulette McWilliams, Fonzi Thornton, Robin Clark, Milt Grayson, Darlene Love, Valerie Simpson, Ivonne Lewis, Katreese Barns, Ada Dyer, Tamira Sanders, Vivian Cherry, Genobia Jeter, Kevin Owens, Brenda White-King (background vocals).
Producers: Luther Vandross, Nat Adderley, Jr., Marcus Miller.
Engineers include: Ray Bardani, Stanley Wallace, Paul Brown.
Recorded at The Hit Factory Studios, Power Station and Clinton Recording Studios, New York; Camel Island, Los Angeles, California.
Personnel: Luther Vandross (vocals); Darlene Love (vocals); Paul Jackson, Jr. (guitar); Clarence Clemons (tenor saxophone); Marcus Miller (Hammond b-3 organ, keyboards, bass instrument); Jason Miles (synthesizer, programming); Ivan Hampden (drums); Cindy Mizelle, Tawatha Agee (background vocals).
This stellar 1995 Christmas album is not your typical release of holiday standards. In fact, Luther helped pen most of the songs on this album. His originals include the excellent "With a Christmas Heart," "This Is Christmas," and "A Kiss for Christmas." But for those with an allegiance to the standards, "My Favorite Things" and "O' Come All Ye Faithful" are duly included among these 10 lovely tracks. Well-known bassist/arranger/producer Marcus Miller plays on some of the tracks, while well-coifed '80s rock balladeer Richard Marx co-wrote "Every Year, Every Christmas." For R&B fans, it's hard to do much better than THIS IS CHRISTMAS.
