With the recent passing of Nelson Mandela, one is again reminded of the horrors of the racist apartheid laws.  Growing up in Cape Town in South Africa as the youngest of 12 children, Butler and his family have had firsthand experiences on what many of us only read about in history textbooks.  Comparable to the Jim Crow laws which plagued the Southern states of the US until they were abolished in the 60s, South Africa used to have a very oppressive racial segregation set of laws that was transparently ungodly and unscriptural.  Butler was never one to sit back in passivity; through he was not a hard-core protestor as a la Gil Scott or Bob Marley, Butler was never reticent about his distaste of racial segregation through his songs.  And in the strange twist of God's sovereignty, Butler's debut single made him the first black artist to be played on white radio stations.  In fact, the song even won a Sarie Award (South Africa's equivalent to the Grammys). Butler didn't stay in South Africa for long; later, he moved to England were he gained a loyal following in both the UK and the US.

Being known as a virtuoso on the guitar and with his smooth silk jazzy vocals, Butler has had often been compared to George Benson.  Like Benson, Butler became a tour de force with his patented fusion of jazz and r&b when he scored a hit with his cover of the Staple Singers' "If You're Ready (Come to Me)."  More success greeted him when his 1988 "Lies" earned him a Grammy nomination.  Despite all his successes in the secular market, Butler was also a committed Christian. Signed to Maranatha Music in 2004, Butler began steam rolling a prodigious catalog of Gospel records.   Anchoring his urban jazz in Gospel music, he has blessed us with unforgettable worship songs such as "Falling in Love with Jesus," "Brand New Day" and "I Know He Cares."  Now he's back with his first ever Christmas offering "Merry Christmas to You."

Handling the production himself, "Merry Christmas to You" finds two Butler originals nestled among seasonal favorites with both secular as well as Christian themes.  What really sets Butler apart is that he doesn't put himself on autopilot.  Rather, he treats each song here with individuality, creativity and his own ingenuous personal touch.  Take "Sleigh Ride" as an example, while many of us may have heard of this yuletide staple a gazillion times across mall radio, it's only Butler who can think of adorning it with sonic ornaments from his home town as tin pan sounding Southern African drums are added to the mix.  And instead of just singing "This Christmas" at his karaoke best, Butler uses it to showcase his elongated note holding tenor to great effect.  While on "Sweet Jesus Baby Boy" Butler gets into an unplug mode with only his voice and a guitar bringing us into a moment of repentance and worship.

As for the two originals:  "Happy Holidays" is a languid jazz ballad that finds Butler sounding more and more like his hero Stevie Wonder.  The way he effortlessly glides through the song's quirky melodic turns reminds us again what a great vocalist Butler is.  While with the title cut "Merry Christmas to You" Butler gets into his romantic best on what is an average Christmas love song with the schmaltzy "stars in your eyes" and "hold my hand and I'll take you there" Hallmark-ish clichés in abundance.   Nevertheless, if you are into something relaxing and something out of the box with a touch of urban jazz, "Merry Christmas to You" will be the one to bring you the merriment this Christmas.