Breaking Records Announces First Holiday Collection Featuring New and Original Recordings by Chaka Khan, Two 'American Idol' Finalists, Sandra Bernhard

New York, NY (Breaking Records) -- "Breaking For the Holidays" is a collection of all-new recordings by 10 artists, the first seasonal release from New York-based Breaking Records. The CD will be released Tuesday, November 21, 2006, and is available at www.breakingrecordsmusic.com and many other Internet retail outlets.

The CD features eight-time Grammy winner Chaka Khan's inspired reading of the 1962 Christmas classic, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" along with heartthrob Ben Jelen, whose 2004 debut "Give It All Away" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Heatseekers album chart. He contributes a beautifully stripped-down version of Joni Mitchell's melancholy "River."

Two finalists from the nation's No. 1-ranked TV show, "American Idol," also add to the festivities: Season four's Vonzell Solomon percolates on the obscure chestnut, "It's Gonna Be a Cold Cold Christmas," and season two's Jon Peter Lewis delights with his Beach Boys-flavored original "California Christmas." Entertainer Sandra Bernhard's "Miracle of Lights," which features Iranian super star Sussan Deyhim, offers a long overdue Chanukah song with the potential to reach the masses. The self-penned composition is a prayer for peace.

Rounding out "Breaking for the Holidays" are Jill Gioia, a finalist on TV's hit reality series, "Rockstar Supernova"; Canadian vocal extraordinaire Karine Hannah; Miz Metro; The Demolition String Band; and Eve Nelson, who also produced Khan's contribution.

"We're confident that this collection will fill homes this season with spirited new versions of beloved Christmas classics, while introducing a handful of original songs that are destined to join the others as annual favorites," said Breaking Records president Bernadette O'Reilly, an industry veteran who founded the label in April 2006 with producer Ayhan Sahin and VP Sherrie Fell.

At this stage, the label maintains distribution on the Internet only. O'Reilly states, "As a new label, we are being very cautious about who we get in bed with during this revolutionary time in the music business."

O'Reilly's association with Bernhard dates back to 1997 when Nelson-O'Reilly Productions (her production company with Nelson and Sahin) produced Bernhard's Broadway album "I'm Still Here Damn It." The Nelson O'Reilly team worked with Khan for the first time in 2004 while producing "Classickhan," a collection of standards, with Nelson conducting the London Symphony Orchestra.