Celebrate Hanukkah

Celebrate Hanukkah

Chanukah oh Chanukah, have I got a CD for you! It is rare that a jaded reviewer gets turned on by a recording of songs already heard about a million times, most of them since childhood, but never say "never." Craig Taubman's latest compendium, "Celebrate Hanukkah," is the exception that proves the rule. Taubman, as canny a producer as he is a performer, has put together a disc of 13 holiday songs (in almost as many styles) from performers such as Peter Yarrow, Debbie Friedman, Judy Frankel and jazz veterans Ben Sidran and Jon Simon. Arrangements roam the musical map from rock to reggae, klezmer to 1960s folk, and the whole thing glows with the power of a menorah in full blaze.