''Navidades'' () is the 17th studio album by Mexican singer Luis Miguel, released on 14 November 2006 by

Warner Music Latina Warner Music Latina (formerly WEA Latina) is a record label part of Warner Music Group that focuses on Latin music. The record label was established in 1987. List of artists currently on Warner Music Latina Alaya*Alex Ubago * Andres Calamaro * Bo ...

. It is Miguel's first

Christmas album Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

, in which the singer interprets traditional English-language carols in Spanish. The songs were adapted by Édgar Cortázar and

Juan Carlos Calderón Juan Carlos Calderón López de Arróyabe (7 July 1938 – 25 November 2012) was a Spanish singer-songwriter and musician. Born in Santander, he was the author of "Eres tú", which, performed by Mocedades, came second in the Eurovision Song Co ...

while the artist handled the album's production himself. Musically, the album consists of

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

numbers and string-laden

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

s. Two singles were simultaneously released as

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

s to promote the album: " Mi Humilde Oración" and " Santa Claus Llegó a la Ciudad". To further promote the record, Luis Miguel performed two tracks from the album on the

set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

for the third leg of his México En La Piel Tour (2005–07) on November and December 2006. Upon its release, ''Navidades'' received mostly positive reviews from music critics, commending Luis Miguel's vocals and the musical styles. However, the adaptations were met with mixed reactions from reviewers. ''Navidades'' was nominated as Best Latin Pop Album at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards (2008) as well as Latin Pop Album of the Year by a Male Artist at the 2007 Latin ''Billboard'' Music Awards. Commercially, ''Navidades'' reached number one in Mexico and the ''Billboard''

Top Latin Albums Top Latin Albums is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine and is labeled as the most important music chart for Spanish language, full-length albums in the American music market. Like all ''Billboard'' album charts, the chart is based ...

chart in the United States and the top-ten in Argentina and Spain. It was also the first Spanish-language album to rank on the ''Billboard'' Top Holiday Albums since 1966. By November 2015, the record had sold over 1.1 million copies.

Background and recording

In 2004, Luis Miguel released '' México en la Piel'', a collection of mariachi standards. He spent two years promoting the album through the México En La Piel Tour (2005–07). After the finishing the third leg of the tour in April 2006 at the

Mandalay Bay Events Center The Michelob Ultra Arena, formerly the Mandalay Bay Events Center, is a 12,000-seat multi-purpose indoor arena at the Mandalay Bay, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by M ...

in Las Vegas, Nevada, Miguel decided to take a break from performing. He announced that he would released a new album and resume touring by the end of the year. Further information about the next record were revealed on 5 October 2006 including its release date on 14 November 2006 and that it would be a holiday album of 11 traditional

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...

s sung in Spanish. Miguel held a

press conference A press conference or news conference is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicians, corporations, non-governmental organ ...

on the eve of the album's release, where he explained the concept of the album: "The conception of this album, ''Navidades'', I have been maturing for years because I have always felt that at Christmas there are great records in English, but not in Spanish. So it seemed like a good idea to record one." ''Navidades'' was recorded in Hollywood and New York City produced by the artist himself. Musically, the albums consists of

big-band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

uptempo numbers and string-laden ballads. Miguel recruited Calderón (who has worked with Miguel since the 1980s) and Édgar Cortázar to write the Spanish-language versions of the songs. While several tracks such as "

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" is a Christmas song featuring Santa Claus written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie. The earliest known recorded version of the song was by banjoist Harry Reser and his band on October 24, 1934. It was the ...

" were translated, other songs including " Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer" were adapted in Spanish with lyrics being unrelated to the original. In the case of the latter, it was reworked as "Frente a la Chimenea" ("In Front of the Chimney") and makes no mention of the titular character. "They wanted lyrics Luis Miguel style" according to Cortázar.

Promotion

" Mi Humilde Oración" and "Santa Claus Llegó a la Ciudad" were simultaneously released as the album's

s on 23 October 2006. The former single peaked at number 31 on the '' Billboard''

Latin Pop Airplay Latin Pop Airplay (also referred to as Latin Pop Songs) is a record chart published on ''Billboard'' magazine and a subchart of the Latin Airplay chart. The chart focuses on Latin pop music, namely Spanish-language pop music. It was established ...

chart while latter ranked at number 26 on the same chart. The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for "Santa Claus Llegó a la Ciudad" was filmed in New York City, directed by Rebecca Blake and released on 21 November 2006. To further promote ''Navidades'', "Santa Claus Llegó a la Ciudad" and "Frente a la Chimenea" were included on the

for the third leg of the México En La Piel Tour in November and December 2006.

Critical reception and accolades

Upon its release, ''Navidades'' was met with generally mostly positive reactions from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. '' Billboard''s

Leila Cobo Leila Cobo is a Colombian journalist, writer, novelist, pianist and television show host. She is noted for her coverage of Latin music for ''Billboard'' where she is currently the Chief Content Officer for Latin Music and Español, overseeing the ...

noted that while "hearing these songs in Spanish be disconcerting to some, where the lyrics completely from the originals", she felt that Miguel's traditional arrangements "work well for the uptempo numbers" and the "string-laden contemplative fare". The '' Reforma'' critic Beto Castillo called it a " very well made album, surrounded by great talents in every way" and praised both the arrangements and musicians. However, Castillo did not enjoy some of the adaptations including "Frente la Chimenea" by Cortázar and preferred Calderón's take on the songs. R. Garza of '' Vida en el Valle'' rated the album five stars complimenting Miguel's voice, the big band arrangements, and his take on " Noche de Paz". Garza lamented as it is a holiday, it only be listened to during holiday season and felt Miguel could've recorded more tracks and include a DVD. A writer ''

Vista Vista usually refers to a distant view. Vista may also refer to: Software *Windows Vista, the line of Microsoft Windows client operating systems released in 2006 and 2007 * VistA, (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) ...

'' magazine gave the album a positive review, lauding its "glorious" sound and opined the adaptations a "new resonance for the family, evokes happiness, and hopes of the holidays, and emotion and nostalgia of the season". Charlie Fidelman of the ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'' rated the album three-and-a-half out of five stars, highlighting the artist's ability to stay "romantic in all guises" and complimented his "expressive tenor voice" along with the big-band ensemble.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

reviewer Evan C. Gutierrez was more critical of the album, giving the album two stars. He criticized the singer for not having "a drop of class or elegance that comes with such commitment" in regards to recording a jazz album. Gutierrez also regarded the choices as "more silly than playful and his performances hit overkill by the first chorus on virtually every track. Gutierrez concluded: "Miguel in a cheap Santa suit brandishing a glass of whiskey and a cigarette between his lips may be more truthful advertising than the candlelight photo that actually adorns the cover." Similarly, Eliseo Cardona listed ''Navidades'' as one of the worst albums of 2006, stating that nobody should have to pay the artist to "hear him sing Christmas songs that in gringo land are already taken for ''guachafas''." At the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in 2008, ''Navidades'' was nominated Best Latin Pop Album, it was the first Christmas album to be nominated in this category, but lost to '' El Tren de los Momentos'' (2006) by Alejandro Sanz. It was also nominated in the category of Latin Pop Album by a Male Artist at the 2007 Latin ''Billboard'' Music Awards but ultimately lost to '' Amor'' (2006) by

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fr ...

Commercial performance

In Mexico, it debuted at the top of the

Top 100 Mexico Top 100 México is a record chart which accounts for sixty percent of the albums sold in Mexico. The chart has the support of major record distributors in Mexico and is issued by the Mexican Association of Producers of Phonograms and Videograms, A. ...

chart and spent three weeks on this spot. ''Navidades'' was certified diamond by AMPROFON almost two months after its launch for sales of 500,000 copies and was the fourth best-selling album of 2006 in the country. By October 2008 the album reported 700,000 units sold in Mexico alone. In the US, ''Navidades'' debuted and peaked at number 51 in the ''Billboard'' 200 on the week of 2 December 2006, and was the first all-Spanish album to appear on Billboard's holiday chart since 1966, peaking at number 7 on this chart. In addition, the record debuted at number one on the ''Billboard''

chart. It sold 145,000 units in the country up to July 2009 and was awarded a double platinum certification in the Latin field by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of 200,000 units. In Spain, ''Navidades'' reached number four on its album charts and was certified gold by PROMUSICAE for shipping over 40,000 copies, making it the 34th best selling album of the year. In Argentina, the disc reached number two, and was certified platinum by

CAPIF The Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers ( es, Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas, CAPIF) is an Argentine organization member of the IFPI, which represents the music industry in the country. It is a n ...

. Additionally it was certified gold in Chile and Venezuela. , ''Navidades'' had sold over 1.1 million units worldwide.

Track listing

All tracks produced by Luis Miguel.

Personnel

Adapted from the ''Navidades'' liner notes:

Performance credits

Musicians *Robbie Buchanan – electric piano , hammond organ * Michael Lang –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

*Francisco Loyo – piano * Randy Waldman – piano * Nathan East – bass *

Abraham Laboriel Abraham Laboriel López Sr. (born July 17, 1947) is a Mexican-American bassist who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. ''Guitar Player'' magazine called him "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the f ...

– bass * Robert Hurst – bass *

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the '' Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2014. Cola ...

– drums * John Robinson – drums *George Doering –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

* Paul Jackson Jr. – guitar *Thomas Aros –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

Dan Higgins Dan Higgins (born January 28, 1957 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American saxophone and woodwind player. He has worked with such artists as John Williams, Seth MacFarlane, Aerosmith, Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond, Al Jarreau, Maroon 5, Kenny Loggin ...

– alto saxophone,

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

*Robert Carr –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

*Keith Fiddmont – saxophone *

Brandon Fields Brandon David Fields (born May 21, 1984) is a former American football punter who played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Michigan State University, and earned consensus All-American honors. He ...

– saxophone *Robert Lockart – saxophone *Thomas Peterson – saxophone *Bijon Watson –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

*Gilberto Castellanos – trumpet *Charles Davis – trumpet *Ronald King – trumpet, trombone *George Bohanan –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

*Richard Bullock – trombone *Ira Nepus – trombone Orchestra *Brian Byrne – orchestra director *Timothy Davis – orchestra director *Bruce Dukov – director, first violin *Ralph Morrison – director, first violin *Razdan Kuyumjian –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

*John Wittenberg – violin *Armen Anassian – violin *Charlie Bisharat – violin *Caroline Campbell – violin *Kevin Connolly – violin *Mario DeLeon – violin *Julie Gigante – violin *Alan Grunfeld – violin *Peter Kent – violin *Natalie Leggett – violin *Phillip Levy – violin *Liane Mautner – violin *Horia Moroaica – violin *Sid Page – violin *Alyssa Park – violin *Sara Parkins – violin *Michele Richards – violin *Guillermo Romero – violin *Josefina Vergara – violin *Margaret Wooten – violin *Jackie Brand – violin *Rebecca Bunnell – violin *Nicole Bush – violin *Franklyn D'Antonio – violin *Kristin Fife – violin *Clayton Haslop – violin *Tiffnay Yi Hu – violin *Patricia Johnson – violin *Aimee Kreston – violin *Robert Matsuda – violin *Frances Moore – violin *Robert Peterson – violin *Tereza Stanislav – violin *Rachel Stegeman – violin *Charles Stegeman – violin *Edmund Stein – violin *Mari Tsumura – violin *Miwako Watanabe – violin *Andrew Duckles –

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

*Matthew Funes – viola *Keith Greene – viola *Shawn Mann – viola *Dan Neufeld – viola *Karie Prescott – viola *Harry Shrinian – viola *David Walther – viola *Robert Berg – viola *Robert Brophy – viola *Ken Burward-Hoy – viola *Carole Kleister Castillo – viola *John Hayhurst – viola *Carrie Holzman-Little – viola *Renita Koven – viola *Carolyn Riley – viola *Larry Corbett –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

*Paula Hochhalter – cello *Dane Little – cello *Daniel Smith – cello *Rudolph Stein – cello *Steve Richards – cello *Kevan Torfeh – cello *Peter Sheridan – flute *Heather Susan Greenberg – flute *James Walker – flute *Steve Kujala – flute *Heather Clark – flute *Martin Glicklich – flute *David Shostac – flute *Earle Dumler –

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

*Barbara Northcutt – oboe *Tommy Morgan – harmonica *James Atkinson –

french horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

*Steven Becknell – french horn *Brad Warnaar – french horn *Joseph Meyer – french horn *Todd Miller – french horn *Phillip Yao – french horn

Gospel choir Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

*Paulina Aguirre *Carmen Carter *Lynn Blythe Davis *Alice Sanderson Echols *Cleto Escobedo II *Nikisha Greer *Bambi Natisse Jones *Kristle Murden *

Dan Navarro Dan Navarro (born Daniel Anthony Navarro, September 14, 1952) is an American vocalist, guitarist and voice actor best known as half of the duo Lowen & Navarro. He is first cousins with Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers. ...

*Kenny O'Brien *Darryl Phinnessee *Louis Price *Carmen Twillie *Gisa Vatcky *Julia Waters-Tillman *Maxine Waters-Willard *Oren Waters *Will Wheaton

Technical credits

*Luis Miguel – producer *Alejandro Asensi – ejecutive producer *

– arrangements and musical direction *Francisco Loyo – music co-production * Rafa Sardina –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

, mixer *Allen Sides – audio engineer *David Reitzas – audio mixing *Shari Sutcliffe – production coordinator *Wesley Seidman – recording assistant *Chris Jennings – recording assistant *Lizette Rangel – recording assistant *Matty Green – mix assistant *Alan Mason – mix assistant *Ron McMaster – mastering engineer *Alberto Tolot –

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

*Jeri Heiden – graphic design *Jennifer Pyle – graphic design

Recording and mixing locations

Ocean Way Studios Ocean Way Recording was a series of recording studios established by recording engineer and producer Allen Sides with locations in Los Angeles, California, Nashville, Tennessee, and Saint Barthélemy. Ocean Way Recording no longer operates record ...

, Hollywood, CA – recording * Right Track Recording, New York, NY – recording * Chalice Studios, Hollywood, CA – mixing * Capitol Mastering, Hollywood, CA – mastering

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

Release history

Notes

References

{{Authority control 2006 Christmas albums Covers albums Christmas albums by Mexican artists Luis Miguel albums Warner Music Latina albums Spanish-language albums Albums produced by Luis Miguel Albums produced by Juan Carlos Calderón