Album Review: The First Noel: Jazz Hymns for Christmas from Gwen Hughes
Album: The First Noel: Jazz Hymns for Christmas Artist: Gwen Hughes Label: Fairfield Records Release Date: October 15, 2026 Website: www.gwenhughes.com The First Noel: Jazz Hymns for Christmas is vocalist Gwen Hughes's holiday release, applying her interpretive leanings to eleven tracks, a combination of carols, hymns, and seasonal compositions. The album completes her Jazz Hymns series, traversing across songs rooted in English, French, Irish, Welsh, and R&B/soul traditions. Hughes's vocals move in synchronicity with her acoustic bass players, standing out as the driving force throughout the recording. Her vocals move in time with Terrell Montgomery's bass quivers along "I Saw Three Ships," creating a cohesiveness that mesmerizes the listener. Soothing and ruminating, Hughes's vocals cradle the listener, eliciting a sedate state of mind, most notably in the silky Celtic ripples of "Angels We Have Heard on High," a widely recog...