It’s been a banner year for fans of Dionne Warwick.
Last spring, Warwick released her first studio album in over five years, the critically acclaimed She’s Back. She’s in the middle of a residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and she’s just been awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
And just in time to get us all ready for the holidays, the sublime chanteuse has released Dionne Warwick & The Voices Of Christmas, a charming new collection comprised primarily of duets with an eclectic group of artists including Chloe x Halle, Aloe Blacc, Andra Day, Michael McDonald, Wanya Morris (from Boyz II Men), and Johnny Mathis.
Only an artist of Warwick’s caliber could pull that off. She’s back, indeed!
As this is Warwick’s third full length Christmas album, and as she sounds like she’s having the time of her life on this record, I had to ask about her connection to the genre and the season.
She answered that question with her typical, refreshing candor.
“I felt it was time to do Christmas again,” the 78 year old icon EXCLUSIVELY told me by phone, as she prepared for one of her Vegas shows. “It happens to be my favorite time of the year — it really is. It’s when people become civil. They become human beings, for a change. They smile at you. They hold your hand. They say ‘hello.’ They offer to hold your packages. It’s a wonderful feeling that happens during this period of time, during this season.”
“I wish it could be Christmas every day!”
Warwick wisely stuck to the classics on The Voices Of Christmas, delivering joyously faithful versions of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “White Christmas,” and “The Christmas Song” with Dianne Reeves, Mathis, and Morris respectively.
Hearing Warwick warble again with the equally masterful Mathis, on the Irving Berlin chestnut no less, was a particular joy.
“There are no words,” Warwick said of reuniting with Mathis in the studio. “John and I have been friends for many, many years. He’s always been there for me, as I’ve been there for him. And John and I love to sing together. He’s a treasure — he really is.”
“I feel this CD was truly blessed,” Warwick continued. “Everybody happened to be in town to record with me, and the songs that we settled on were chosen directly for each individual duet partner.”
Warwick has proven, once again, that no one tells a story better than she does on “Frosty The Snow Man” with Eric Paslay and a scaled back “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” with Day. On both tracks, Warwick’s interpretative brilliance almost convinced me that I was hearing the time worn tales of flying reindeer and talking, walking snowmen for the first time.
And while I wasn’t sure I was ready for a country song from Warwick, she and John Rich, the Oak Ridge Boys, and Ricky Skaggs had sold me on the idea by the time they reached their second pass on the verse of their rollicking “Jingle Bells.” In fact, the ensemble left me wishing they’d sung the song’s lesser known second verse. Maybe there’s a full-length country album in the legend’s future!
Warwick’s chemistry with Blacc is undeniable on “This Christmas,” buoyed by an arrangement that would have been the envy of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Both “Jingle Bells” and “This Christmas” are being released as singles to country and R & B radio, respectively.
As lovely as the new album’s duets are, The Voices Of Christmas is gloriously bookended by Warwick’s solo versions of “Silent Night” and “The First Noel.” The decision to do that was sheer genius on the part of the album’s producer, Warwick’s son Damon Elliott, and the two reverential tracks are among the most beautiful Warwick has recorded in 30 years.
As the perennial songbird has worked with many of the music industry’s top shelf producers, one could only imagine her pride in her son’s production chops.
Well, now we don’t have to imagine.
“He is incredible, and I couldn’t be more proud,” Warwick said of Elliott’s work on The Voices Of Christmas. “He has honed his craft very well, and he’s doing wonderful work. I’m thrilled that the album turned out the way that it did.”
“I just hope that everyone enjoys listening to the new album as much as we all enjoyed recording it!”
Dionne Warwick & The Voices Of Christmas is available at all major digital and brick & mortar retail outlets.
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