12 concerts to enjoy this holiday season

It’s just about time for that meme: Mariah Carey in a block of ice along with words like “She’s starting to defrost.” Yes, the holidays mean a lot of Mariah (who herself got in on the joke last year) singing “All I Want For Christmas Is You” and playing arenas like the TD Garden, where she returns Dec. 5.

But holiday concert options go far beyond the usual suspects. Whether you’re looking for twang or rap, funk legends or indie rock darlings, there’s probably a holiday concert for you.

Some holiday performers are more naughty than nice, particularly the cast of this tour, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary — making it the longest-running national drag tour of any kind. With a roster heavy on past contestants of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” the sassy, bawdy affair is hosted by former RPDR Miss Congeniality Nina West.

High-octane Boston trumpeter and 2023 Grammy winner Bijon Watson has been bringing his formidable playing, bandleading and arranging chops to an ongoing series called Iconic Jazz Legacies. For the holiday edition, Watson pays tribute to the Afro-Latin jazz tradition along with a burning band that includes percussionist Manolo Mairena, timbales player Eguie Castrillo and singer Barbara de los Angeles Zamora Vargas. Other holiday shows at the Shalin Liu include Irish greats Lúnasa (Dec. 8) and Seaside Yuletide, an acoustic all-star North Shore trio of Jon Butcher, Allen Estes and Sal Baglio (Dec. 14).

One of the least expected entrants into the holiday music world this season is Tower of Power, the muscular horn band that has been pumping out funky grooves since the late 1960s. “It’s Christmas” finds the band deftly applying its signature sound to fresh arrangements of Christmas favorites as well as the traditional Hanukkah tune “Maoz Tzur.”

In 1979, hip-hop had just started appearing on wax when Kurtis Blow released “Christmas Rap.” Now he’s part of a tour that finds him opening for a reimagining of “The Nutcracker” as a hip-hop street dance tale. It’s one of several non-traditional Nutcracker-related options that also include Anthony Williams’ “Urban Nutcracker” at the Boch Center’s Shubert Theatre Dec. 14 and 15 and a Nov. 26 performance of Duke Ellington’s “Nutcracker Suite” by Berklee’s Diamond Cut Big Band on a bill that also includes vibraphonist Warren Wolf playing selections from his “Christmas Vibes” album.

This year, Sol y Canto, the pan-Latin folk ensemble led by Rosi and Brian Amador, celebrated its 30th anniversary and released a new record. The duo is capping off the festivities with special guests, holiday songs from both the U.S. and Latin America, and their version of “asalto navideño” – a Puerto Rican tradition that translates into “Christmas assault,” a surprise visit from roving celebrants.

Indie pop queen Aimee Mann, who got her start in Boston with ‘Til Tuesday, has long included a mix of music and comedy in her annual holiday show. Now she’s bringing along her occasional musical partner, punk troubadour Ted Leo, as well as comedians Paul F. Tompkins and Josh Gondelman and the delightfully quirky music of Nellie McKay. Other Cabot holiday shows include the kiddie-friendly toddlerbilly of Matt Heaton’s “Holiday Hootenanny” (Dec. 14) and soul and gospel icon Darlene Love’s “Love for the Holidays” (Dec. 15).

Maybe you can name a Hanukkah song or two — but can you name one for all eight nights of the holiday? That’s where the LeeVees come in. The joyful Jewish rock band, which includes Adam Gardner of Guster, just writes and sings Hanukkah songs. Among the age-old debates that the LeeVees ponder are “Apple Sauce VS Sour Cream” (for a latke topping) and “How Do You Spell Channukkahh?”

If things have you in a less than cheerful mood this season, Erin McKeown knows where you’re coming from. In 2001, the singer-songwriter released “F*ck That!,” described as an “anti-capitalist, pro-queer, suspicious of christmas-as-patriotism, sex-positive, not safe for work, multi-ethnic, radical leftist, ant-holiday album,” with songs like “Visions I Have Had While High” and “Itsa Very Queer Christmas,” along with some others whose titles we can’t print. This year McKeown produced a sequel, “F*ck You Too,” which will be presented as the rare Club Passim show that comes with a parental advisory. And if you’re looking for a more traditional acoustic holiday show, Club Passim has plenty in store, including banjo pioneer Tony Trischka’s “Of A Winter’s Night” (Dec. 11), Jennifer Kimball’s Boston collective ​​”Wintery Songs in Eleventy Part Harmony” (Dec. 16-18), and Celtic holiday shows from Scottish Fish (Dec. 22) and Áine Minogue (Dec. 23).

One of the most delightfully unique jazz venues in the region is Arthur’s House of Jazz, a weekly series of mostly straight-ahead jazz that continues the tradition of swing at a nondescript Lebanese restaurant in Methuen. One of Boston’s finest jazz pianists, Tim Ray, hosts his annual holiday concert there. Other noteworthy jazz happenings include a trio of shows at Scullers Jazz Club: Elan Trotman’s mellow bossa nova-tinged “Christmas in Rio” (Dec. 13), singer Kat Edmonson’s “Holiday Swingin’” (Dec. 14), and the welcome return of pianist Christian Sands’ holiday show (Dec. 20).

In 1950, a popular cantor and Yiddish film star recorded "The Moishe Oysher Chanukah Party," which combined cantor Oysher’s stirring singing with some schmaltzy narration by his 11-year-old daughter. The Boston Festival of New Jewish Music Artistic Director Nat Seelen says that many consider it the best Hanukkah record ever made, even though it was out of print for decades. (There’s a scratchy version on YouTube.) Now the record is getting what is likely its first-ever full performance by an all-star klezmer orchestra and, interestingly, a pair of female vocalists singing Oysher’s parts: Jenny Herzog and Tutti Druyan. The bash also includes the Rachel Linsky dancers, a set of other Hanukkah classics by Druyan, Yiddish dancing with an expanded version of Ezekiel's Wheels Klezmer Band and a DJ set from Chaia and Kleztronica.

If your favorite part of the holiday season is hearing Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas,” one of his musical heirs — indie R&B mainstay Eric Roberson — will soon be releasing “The Greatest Gift: An Eric Roberson Christmas.” Based on the title track, it’ll be an unabashedly sentimental and sincere affair. Roberson’s gig at Boston City Winery is one of a slew of holiday shows at that venue, including drag queen Thorgy (Dec. 2), The Sweetback Sisters' Country Christmas Sing-Along Spectacular (Dec. 18) and a pair of holiday shows on Dec. 21 — one in the afternoon and the other in the evening by reunited 1980s Boston rockers the Del Fuegos.

Country hitmaker David Nail has been making mainstream and often rocking musicsince he emerged two decades ago. But for his first country record, “A Campfire Christmas,” he’s dramatically stripped down his sound to just a guitar and his soulful tenor voice for intimate versions of classics like “White Christmas” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” His tour brings him to Shirley, his last stop of 2024.