What a Wonderful Time (CD - 2007)

Personnel: Michael J. Powell (guitar, keyboards, percussion); Derrick "Buck" Buckingham (guitar); Connie Ellisor, Mary Kathryn Van Osdale, Pamela Sixfin, Alan Umstead (violin); Sanad Change, Catherine Umstead (viola); Nashville String Machine (strings); De'Sean Jones (saxophone); Sam Levine (alto saxophone); Jimmy Bowland (tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone); Mike Casteel, Steve Patrick, Kriss T. Johnson Jr. (trumpet); Prentiss Hobbs, Bryan Cotton, Roy Agee (trombone); Maxx Frank (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, programming); Jason Tyson (piano, Hammond b-3 organ); Michael Mingingall (keyboards); Sharay Reed (upright bass); Darrell Campbell (bass guitar); Quentin Dennard II, Calvin Rodgers (drums); Marlon "Bebop" Crawford (congas); Felipe Batista (percussion); Beth Griffith-Manley, Brigett Grace, Chris "Fonk Nasty" Johnson (background vocals).

Contemporary gospel vocalist Yolanda Adams issued her second Christmas album with 2007's WHAT A WONDERFUL TIME. Equipped with a lilting timbre and passionate delivery, Adams is an impressive singer, and her treatment of such holiday favorites as "Jingle Bells," "Do You Hear What I Hear," and "Little Drummer Boy" make this disc as cozy as a yuletide fire. A handful of originals, such as the lovely "A Season of Love," add variety, as does her cover of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, "My Favorite Things." minimize