Izzo Blues Coalition have the cure for the holiday blues with their new single and video Merry Christmas Baby — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
There are calm, soothing versions of Christmas carols and standards that are amplified throughout shopping malls and big-box stores. But these Montreal blues-rockers have injected a fresh sense of verve and energy with their blistering cover of this seasonal standard. It’s a performance that would make Santa question whether he wants to put himself on the nice or naughty list.
According to the group — singer / keyboardist Annie Major-Matte, guitarist / keyboardist Tino Izzo, bassist Domenic Romanelli and drummer Bob Telaro — recording Merry Christmas Baby was a spur-of-the-moment decision. “Tino Izzo suddenly decided to take the song into the studio and start working on a seed of an idea for the arrangement,” they say. “Annie came in to record her vocal take even before the song fully took form. They had to wait a week for Bob to get back from vacation, unrehearsed to rush into the studio with Domenic to record the drum and bass tracks. This spontaneous process gave the song a raw, authentic energy.”
Originally written by Johnny Dudley Moore and Lou Baxter and first performed by Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers back in 1947, Merry Christmas Baby has had a rich history. Recorded by Otis Redding, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Presley and Melissa Etheridge — among countless others — the song is a scorching blues-rock single. Major-Matte’s delivery — think Sass Jordan, Beth Hart or Bonnie Raitt — is playful and sassy, while Izzo delivers a rollicking solo that could melt the North Pole. Romanelli and Telaro are solid throughout, laying down a the bluesy but slightly funky groove.
Izzo Blues Coalition have a new album entitled Rise Again due Feb. 7. They released their debut Complicated Man in 2019, while their sophomore effort Take It Or Leave It came out in 2021. Izzo, influenced and inspired by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter and Stevie Ray Vaughan, has worked with, written for, or produced Celine Dion, Roch Voisine, Petula Clark and Bobby Bazini, among others. He also earned a Billboard Choice Award for instrumental guitar albums he released in the ’90s.
Izzo Blues Coalition have played at Festival International du Blues de Tremblant, among others, covering classics by Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Winter and Albert King alongside their originals. Not bad for a group who formed when Izzo and Telaro met for a jam over scotch!
Watch the video for Merry Christmas Baby above, hear the song and more from Izzo Blues Coalition below, and send them a gift at their website, Facebook and Instagram.
