Nancy Wilson Christmas

Has Nancy Wilson ever made a public move in her 40-plus-year career that wasn't tasteful? Aside from a couple of small-print notices, purchasers would never know that Wilson intends to donate her royalties from her first full- length Christmas disc to the Pittsburgh-based Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, an arts and education center for lower-income residents. Christmas finds Wilson moving between quietly felt moods with astute shifts in arrangement size; her trio, the Dizzy Gillespie alumni orchestra, and a chamber group are among the varied settings. As a choice for a houseful of family on Christmas Eve, this could hardly be better. A seemingly unpromising match between Wilson and the supremely fussy quartet New York Voices on "Carol of the Bells" ends up as one of the album's most sustained performances. --Rickey Wright