It is the season when when “twas” and “tis” become an accepted part of the language for the first time since the seventeenth century, gaudy jumpers, or these days possibly onesies, replace having an actual personality, people talk about how A Wonderful Life is the best film ever made and Mariah Carey is every other song on the radio or jukebox. It is also the season when it seems acceptable to release unnecessary and poor quality versions of Christmas classics. That’s why we need Ebony Joi so much.
Eartha Kitt ’s iconic Santa Baby may have been flogged within an inch of its creative life over the years but Ebony Joi has found the perfect new format for the modern age. It loses none of the sultry soulfulness of the original but adds a modern sassy R&B vibe to this new delivery, a slow and sensual grove which wanders wilfully around the beat like a jazz diva and throws in a bit of urban street smarts. Most often there is no need to try to reinvent songs which have all but passed into musical lore but if you do why not give them the perfect make over?