In the Holiday Spirit (feat. The Kelly Park Big Band)

If you grew up listening to the classic crooners--Sinatra, Dino, Tony Bennett--no doubt you pull out those holiday albums every year. And, at least once as you listen to those timeless classics, the thought that "they just don't make 'em like they used to" crosses your mind. We've been fortunate that Mr. Bennett is still going strong, even gracing us with new holiday recordings from time to time. But you have to look a little harder to find that, yes, every once in a while, someone makes 'em like they used to. Russ Lorenson has been crooning the standards of the Great American Songbook era for many years, now, paying tribute to the masters while also uncovering lost gems and newly written songs that fit the genre as though written in the forties and fifties. Russ started out in the theatre as a child and, while returning to "the boards" for tribute shows and musicals that routinely play to full houses, performing and recording in his own voice and style has been his primary focus for at least the past decade. In that time, he's earned the title of "San Francisco's Favorite Crooner". Picture Russ released his debut album in 2006 and followed that, the same year, with his first holiday album, "What I Want For Christmas". "What I Want For Christmas" escaped the attention of far too many for far too long. It's an exceptional work with the intimacy of a private concert. And the highlights are many--from Jazz vocal standards like "That's What I Want For Christmas" to a brilliant cover of Barry Manilow's "I Guess There Ain't No Santa Claus" to the seldom covered "Snow" from the 1954 Bing Crosby/Danny Kaye "White Christmas" film, the 2006 Russ Lorenson Christmas set is one to add to your library if you don't already own it. Nearly a decade later, Russ decided it was time to record a second Christmas album. And, let me just say up top, an absolute A+ on the playlist for "In The Holiday Spirit"; there isn't an overplayed/over recorded song on here (with the possible exception of "Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth") and there are some very seldom recorded gems. With the more than capable assistance of the Kelly Park Big Band, Russ works his way through crooner classics like "Let Me Be The First To Wish You Merry Christmas" (Steve Lawrence), "A Winter Romance" (written by Sammy Cahn and Ken Lane and originally sung by Dean Martin), "It's Christmas Time All Over The World" (a semi-lost Hugh Martin song that Sammy Davis Jr. recorded) as well as new holiday songs like "Mrs. Claus". Pardon the pun, but Russ hits all the right notes, so to speak, with this program. He's got enough energy to charge a room, as on the old Louis Prima favorite "Shake Hands With Santa Claus" and captures the appropriate smoky after-hours tone of "The Christmas Blues". But he absolutely shines on the romantic ballads; that's where his vocals float smoothly from note to note, drawing out every bit of romance and nostalgia those songs have to offer. And, being that they're Christmas songs, it's nearly like a picture print by Currier & Ives. In that regard, the seldom covered John Pizzarelli composition, "Let's Share Christmas", likely shines as my favorite on this particular string of Christmas lights. My least favorite? I'm gonna say "Jingles, The Christmas Cat". Yeah, I'm a cat person but "Jingles" just didn't do it for me. Of course, that'll end up being someone else's favorite, I'm sure. Maybe everybody's. "In The Holiday Spirit" is set to release September 4 and pre-orders (autographed, if you so desire) are available direct from Russ. Thank goodness he's still making them like they used to. As an album that harkens back to the days of Sinatra, Martin, Bennett, and Crosby, "In The Holiday Spirit" should get your Christmas music season started on a high note.