As heard in Santa's Warehouse.

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Louie Vega & Elements Of Life Christmas Package

2008 - 2023

A not-so-secret secret about me: I like Christmas music. Okay, not all of it, but there are always more quality (not to mention weird and interesting) Xmas records around than you think.  I've never shared any here, so let's fix that. 

I kicked off the year with a Masters At Work post, so I'll close it out that way too with some upbeat holiday house from Little Louie Vega. The legendary NYC dance producer is one half of MAW and has been sliding out the occasional Christmas record for years now. Mostly just digital releases, sometimes under his own name and some with Elements Of Life, his band brings more of his love for Latin and jazz to the party. 

Jazz bass, Latin percussion, and some great vocalists feature on soul house productions that will guarantee a sunny Christmas day when  you play them. (How come I've never gotten to DJ a Christmas party?) Vega and his EOL team hit some Christmas classics that you know from Donny Hathaway, Ray Charles, James Brown and, of course, Charlie Brown. I enjoy watching artists work within the confines of the standards that a thousand others have worked over. These are far from the most out there Christmas tunes in my collection, but Vega and co definitely put their own stamp on them. They bravely cut a number of originals too, craft love letters to Vega's favorite holiday and New York City. His latest Xmas release features two more new contributions to the holiday disco cannon, with many of his regular co-conspirators returning for another round (including his MAW partner, Kenny Dope, contributing drum programming to Holidaze).

This year brought challenges and some difficult moments to me and my family, but I'm deeply appreciative to all the friends, family and comrades who've given us the endless support, love and inspiration to keep moving forward. Listening to these records late last night after the rest of the house was asleep, I also appreciated (for the 10,000th time in my life) the ways that music can shift your mood and outlook just from listening. Silly Christmas disco songs? Sure, but listen and see if you don't smile a little, catch yourself dancing, and start feeling a little more optimistic about what the next day might hold.

Six different digital releases from 2008 through now that you can dance, wrap gifts, or eat figgy pudding to. (Side note: WTF is a figgy pudding?) Links for the whole batch underneath the info below (including text files with full credits and some nice notes and commentary on the songs from Vega).  Enjoy the music and the holidays.

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Elements Of Life – This Christmas
Vega Records – VR074
Dec 25, 2008

Tracklist
1 This Christmas (Main Santos Mix)
2 This Christmas (Ladies Mix)

Elements Of Life featuring Josh Milan & Cindy Mizelle – Christmas Time is Here
Vega Records – VR134
Dec 23, 2013

Tracklist
1 Christmas Time Is Here (Main)
2 Christmas Time Is Here (Instrumental)

Louie Vega Starring Cindy Mizelle – Christmas In New York 2016
Vega Records – VR168
Dec 21, 2016

Tracklist
1 Christmas In New York 2016 (Main Mix)
2 Christmas In New York 2016 (DJ Main Mix)
3 Christmas In New York 2016 (Instrumental Mix)

Louie Vega – Louie Vega & Friends Christmas EP
Vega Records – VR176
Dec 18, 2017

Tracklist
1 Louie Vega Featuring Tawatha Agee & Cindy Mizelle - The Magic Of Christmas (Louie Vega Jing-a-ling Mix)
2 Louie Vega Featuring Cindy Mizelle - Christmas Kisses (Louie Vega Roots Mix)
3 Louie Vega Featuring Tawatha Agee & Cindy Mizelle - The Magic Of Christmas (Louie Vega Roots Instrumental)
4 Louie Vega Featuring Cindy Mizelle - Christmas Kisses (Louie Vega Instrumental)
5 Louie Vega Featuring Cindy Mizelle - Christmas Kisses (Vega Xmas Jazzy Beat)

Louie Vega – Vega Family Christmas Collection
Vega Records – VR202
Dec 16, 2020

Tracklist
1        Magic Of Christmas (In NYC) (Original Mix) - Louie Vega feat. Tawatha Agee, Cindy Mizelle
2        Christmas Kisses (Original Mix) - Louie Vega feat. Cindy Mizelle
3        This Christmas (Original Mix) - Elements Of Life feat. Kenny Bobien, Cindy Mizelle, Sara Devine, Anané Vega, Nico Vega
4        Christmas In New York (Original Mix) - Louie Vega feat. Cindy Mizelle
5        Christmas Time Is Here (Original Mix) - Elements Of Life feat. Josh Milan, Cindy Mizelle
6        Merry Christmas Baby / Let's Make Christmas Mean Something This Year (Original Mix) - Louie Vega feat. Josh Milan, Cindy Mizelle
7        Magic Of Christmas (In NYC) (Instrumental Mix) - Louie Vega feat. Tawatha Agee, Cindy Mizelle
8        This Christmas (Louie Vega Reprise Mix) - Elements Of Life feat. Kenny Bobien, Cindy Mizelle, Sara Devine, Anané Vega, Nico Vega
9        Merry Christmas Baby / Let's Make Christmas Mean Something This Year (Instrumental) - Louie Vega feat. Josh Milan, Cindy Mizelle

Elements Of Life – Christmas EP
Vega Records – VR222
Dec 19, 2023

Tracklist
1        Holidaze feat. Cindy Mizelle, Fonzi Thornton, Patricia Lacy
2        Snow (In The City) feat. Audrey Wheeler, Cindy Mizelle
3        Holidaze (Daze Dub) feat. Cindy Mizelle, Fonzi Thornton, Patricia Lacy
4        Snow (In The City) (Instrumental Mix)
5        Holidaze (Instrumental Mix)

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This Christmas will be in FLAC (download zip): https://mega.nz/file/dX5zGJzB#YccikQODh3FETEs-OukAG0oLoGS0PzyPtn4PRjVv19k

A vey special Christmas for me in MP3 (320 kbps, download or stream): https://mega.nz/folder/ZC5R3bQD#IfE9DbFFx16zF4vx6xi7-g

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