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Our Review

What a great singer! I found Christmas Time With Oleta to be appealing in every way. Obviously talented to begin with, Oleta Adams is schooled and skilled in all blues genres. From jazz to R&B to gospel, informed by great legends, her stylistic range is impressive. Her strong vocals stand on their own, but here they are surrounded by her own lush piano and string arrangements.

Oleta Adams is cool, but not ice cold. Her vocals are strong, but convey warmth. Her arrangements are an homage to jazz and the blues. Breath Of Heaven, playing this very moment, is a paean to old-school standards, warmly sung. She begins with I Wonder As I Wander sung as a percussive, strongly backed jazz arrangement. Such a versatile and attention-grabbing vocalist, I forget she is handling most of the keyboard licks (and these are many and varied) as well. Her cover of Vince Guaraldi's Christmas Time Is Here is one of the most poignant performances I've heard in many a month, featuring both voice and piano in equal measure.

I enjoyed every song on this groovy jazz/blues/gospel/R&B/cabaret holiday record.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2006)

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From the liner notes:

Produced by Oleta Adams
Engineered and mixed by Dave Lohr of DML Audio - Littleton, CO
Mastered by Eric Conn of Independent Mastering = Nashville, TN
Recorded at The Booth and The Cave - Shawnee, KS
Acoustic grand piano: Bosendorfer Conservatory Series
Posphorus Cymbals: John Cushon
A&R Director: Dave Wilkes
Photographer: Randee St Nicholas
Special Acknowledgements: Metric Halo, Trilogy Bass, Shure Incorporated, Bosendorfer; Vaccaro's Piano & Organ Company

Oleta Adams

Christmas Time With Oleta

Artist link

Track List