Joe Williams - That Holiday Feelin' (1990) CDRip

Jazz singer Joe Williams has a voice like butterscotch: thick, creamy, sweet, and somehow light, too. Hearing him reprise a handful of standards and three lesser-known tunes for the holidays is a guaranteed pleasure. Add a delectable horn section--and horn charts to go with chops--that includes trumpeters Joe Wilder and Clark Terry, trombonist Al Grey, alto-sax player Bobby Watson, tenor saxophonist Frank Wess and baritone player Seldon Powell to an already solid ensemble, and Williams has created a sophisticated holiday, feeling. Williams characteristically toys with the phrasing on many of these classics, presenting great treatments of "Kissing by the Mistletoe" and "A Child Is Born." And with his chameleonesque voice that shape-shifts and colors the proceedings, Williams offers a holiday that's adventurous while still remaining cozy, classy, and bright.