The gift of music never fails and you can fill plenty of stockings with these re-releases, compilations and holiday music, handpicked by the JT music elves Tom Bojko, Philip Brasor, Jeff Hammond, Jason Jenkins, Michael Pronko and Suzannah Tartan
Celia Cruz "La Irresistible" (Astro)
Celia Cruz lived large and lived young. Had it not been for a brain tumor, the undisputed "Queen of Salsa" would surely have kept belting them out to packed houses well into her 80s. Her death in July closed one of the most colorful chapters in Latin music, one that encompassed the golden years of salsa, mambo, rumba, son and other branches of the Afro-Cuban rhythmic tree. The re-release of "La Irresistible" offers a chance to sample all of the above. Spice up your New Year's festivities with 15 of her most popular numbers from the late '40s. The sound quality on some tracks isn't so impressive, but if your feet don't start moving to the horns on "El Cumbanchero," you're not drinking enough Champagne. (J.J.)