Album Review: Hollywood Christmas from Richard Williams

Album:  Hollywood Christmas
Artist:  Richard Williams
Label:  Self-Released
Website:  https://www.richardmusic.com/
  https://www.facebook.com/RichardWillliamsMusic/

Composer and multi-instrumentalist Richard Williams rings in the holiday season with his latest release Hollywood Christmas, a 22-track recording comprised of classic Christmas singalong tunes using a palette of big band, swing jazz and orchestral ambiences.  In the vane of Gene Autry, Frank Sinatra, Michael Bublé, and The Carpenters, Williams revisits traditional holiday music and celebrates its perennial luster.

Partly driven by his Mormon faith, Williams exercises his arranging chops by putting his own touch-ups on a handful of well-known and beloved Christmas-themed songs.  Williams sets the cheerful tone of the album with the opening number, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” The song features the sauve voicing of Alex Stiles, a young vocalist whose style and vocal quality is reminiscent of Andy Williams. The arrangement combines big band swing with strings and horns creating a complementing mixture of jazz and orchestral music. Stiles is also heard on “The Christmas Song,” which opens with a bevy of breezy strings that contour Stiles' vocals in gilded rivlets.

“Happy Holiday” features a swinging, straight-ahead, big band arrangement.  Sung by Nate Bryant, whose buoyant vocals are accentuated by the backup vocals of Utah-based group, Company B, comprised of Hayley Kirkland, Clara Campbell and Kate Plewe, the melody begins with a kickline of frothy and splashing horns that ebb on the outro to a calming shimmer.

Rebecca Lopez's smooth resonance on "White Christmas" is refined as the tender strokes of her vocals breathe a loving warmth into the lyrics.  The swinging grooves of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" are complimented by the sleek duet of vocalists Evon Collett and Connor Ross.  The pair enliven the bopping beats with a vibrancy that is infectious.  Singer Taylor Miranda pumps holiday cheer into "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" with a festive prancing as the horns blaze joyfully and Williams' keys nuzzle in with a playful shimmy.

Williams discovered Russian vocalist Dmitry Noskov online and thought his voice was reminiscent of Frank Sinatra, so Williams recorded Noskov's vocals on “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” remotely from Russia.  The result is a cozy, fireside melody that flows with exalting vocal raptures between the lulling strolls.  "Winter Wonderland" showcases Hayley Kirkland with Company B in a swinging arrangement brimming with merriment, as "Let It Snow" brings to the forefront the seductive voicing of New York vocalist and trumpet player Benny Benack III who is backed by the singers of Company B.

Acquainted with composing film scores and music for video games, Richard Williams proves he is versatile and can adapt to putting together a Christmas-themed montage of holiday classics, which he does beautifully.  Celebrating the traditions of big band, swing jazz, and orchestral arrangements, Williams presents a lively ensemble of favorite holiday singalongs to add cheer to the Christmas season.

Musicians:
Piano: Richard Williams
Guitar: Brady Bills
Alto Sax 1: Eric Marienthal
Alto Sax 2: Sal Lozano
Tenor Sax 1: Brandon Fields
Tenor Sax 2: Dan Kaneyuki
Bari Sax: Will Vargas
Trumpet 1: Wayne Bergeron
Trumpet 2: Rob Schaer
Trumpet 3: Kye Palmer
Trumpet 4: Mitchell Cooper
Trombone 1: Andy Martin
Trombone 2: Joey Sellers
Trombone 3: Erik Hughes
Bass Trombone: Robert Todd
Bass: Trey Henry
Drums: Bernie Dresel
Vocalists: Alex Stiles, Nate Bryant, Rebecca Lopez, Evon Collett,
Connor Ross, Taylor Miranda, Dmitry Noskov, Hayley Kirkland,
Benny Benack III, Chelsea Brooke Olson, Julie Seechuk
Company B Singers: Hayley Kirkland, Clara Campbell, Kate Plewe
Women's Choir: Jean Williams, Ruth Gardner, Carol Olson,
Erika Felsted, Rose Lofthouse, and Jeri Mellor
String & Woodwind Orchestra Recorded by Budapest Scoring Orchestra