The Season for Romance (CD - 2002)

Personnel: Lee Ann Womack (vocals); Dennis Budimir (acoustic & electric guitars); Daniel Higgins, Pete Christlieb (saxophone, horns); Rob Mounsey (piano); Chuck Domanico (upright bass); Vinnie Colaiuta (drums).

Cardinal rule number one for introducing new holiday songs amidst a sea of newly arranged classics: Make them compelling! No doubt she hopes that listeners will slow dance to the title track of her first holiday offering, but, despite its sweet sentiment, it's one of the handful of bland tracks amidst many that are far more interesting. The most unique choice Lee Ann Womack makes is moving away from her comfy country roots and doing a traditional jazz/big band-flavored party for the season at hand. Her wry duet of "Baby It's Cold Outside" with Harry Connick, Jr. is fully of sultry cool and sassy personality -- qualities the disc's other ballads could use more of. The medley of "Let It Snow/Winter Wonderland" is rendered in a classic '50s crooner fashion, with rising splashes of horn section complementing her lush vocals. That same tenderness serves her well on a sparse, folksy arrangement of "Silent Night," a mood she balances with sassy swingers like "The Man With the Bag." Even if there's some unevenness here, the disc in general lives up to its title concept. ~ Jonathan Widran

Sure, Lee Ann Womack was already stepping far beyond the boundaries of country (even by contemporary standards) with her previous album SOMETHING WORTH LEAVING BEHIND, but while that Sheryl Crow-ish affair maintained some tenuous ties to Womack's roots, THE SEASON FOR ROMANCE represents a complete severing of Nashville ties in every sense. For one thing, the record was recorded in L.A., with a full complement of West Coast studio cats. More importantly, it's an album of Christmas songs (okay, that could still be country) performed entirely in swing-jazz, Great American Songbook mode (bye bye cowboy). What's most impressive, aside from the seamless ease with which Womack slides into this role, is the authenticity of the production and the horn and orchestra arrangements, which sound like they could have come straight off a classic '50s record by, say, Eydie Gorme. From pop-rock to Xmas swing all in the space of a couple of months; who knows what the next album will bring for Womack? minimize