Intimate jazz and country holiday music

Tillis set out to record the sort of Christmas record that she'd play at her own home, one that's put on "when you cook for company, while you trim the tree, while you're wrapping presents, while you look through old photo albums with old friends." And in that she's succeeded, nestling her mostly secular selections amidst a trio of acoustic bass, piano and drums. The album opens and closes with drowsy late-night arrangements of "Have Yourself a Merry Lil' Christmas" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas," the latter adding superb Manhattan Transfer styled background harmonies. The album's three new songs include the imagery rich "Beautiful Night" and the Spanish guitar of "Light of the World." The tempo's turned up to a western swing canter for a medley of "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" that features Tillis and her father Mel singing in duet. Her second medley, combining "I Wonder as I Wander," "Away in a Manger," and "Silent Night" is sung spiritually and gives the album its deepest moment of Christian faith. The album's real treat is a cover of Willie Nelson's "Pretty Paper," a top-20 hit for Roy Orbison in 1963. Tillis has always shown herself to be a great singer, but with the crying steel of a vintage Nashville arrangement behind her, she turns into a heartbreakingly sentimental storyteller. The Nashville A-listers add warmth with live backing tracks that are easily imagined in an intimate club setting. It's comfort and familiarity which makes this a terrific disc to slip into your CD player while you enjoy holiday activities. [©2007 redtunictroll at hotmail dot com]