The Blind Boys of Alabama

gospel

If all that comes to mind when you think of Christmas songs is Casio tones in the drugstore and caterwauling carolers at your door, well, The Blind Boys of Alabama would like to remind you what it's all about. A pair of secular seasonal classics notwithstanding, Go Tell It on the Mountain (Real World) strips the shellac off songs like "Little Drummer Boy" and "Away in a Manger," restoring the spirituality that's long been buried under a tinsel and pine-needle mound. Though the many guest vocal shots give the album something of a network-special feel -- you keep expecting Bing Crosby to glide through a door -- Tom Waits makes the title track sound as old as Christianity itself. Older, maybe. Though the Blind Boys' harmonies could easily fill the Kimmel twice over, they're joined by the thrilling voices of Aaron Neville and Mavis Staples, themselves no strangers to singing harmony.

Sun., Dec. 21, 7:30 p.m., $31-$53, with Mavis Staples, Aaron Neville and John Medeski, Kimmel Center, 260 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999.

—Sam Adams

-- Respond to this article in our Forums -- click to jump there