On Christmas Night

Christmas music lends itself so well to Celtic instrumentation that it's virtually impossible not to get caught up in the spirit of the season. The Irish-American quintet Cherish the Ladies, originally conceived for a concert series by Mick Maloney for the Ethnic Folk Arts Center and the National Endowment for the Arts, tackles the crowded yuletide release onslaught with a warmth and elegance that should find the delightful On Christmas Night a popular holiday favorite for years to come. Standards like "Silent Night," "Little Drummer Boy," and "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" are reverent and unpretentious, allowing lead singer Heidi Talbot's fluid tenor to soar, while regional classics like "Henry Roe McDermott/The Holly and the Berry" and "Ding Dong Merrily on High/The Cordal Jig/Old Apples in Winter/Con Cassi" showcase the group's exquisite musicianship. Holiday records, especially of the Celtic variety, have become a dime a dozen, but Cherish the Ladies, with their quiet passion for the material and refusal to paint the ten tracks with thick gobs of keyboard and studio trickery, have made an intoxicating jug of punch that merits repeated visits.