The Season For Romance

Performer: Lee Ann Womack
Producer: Mark Wright
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: 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). 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?

Bursting onto the country scene in 1997 with the hit song "Never Again, Again," Lee Ann Womack upheld the classic Nashville standards of earlier generations, with an achey sob in her voice and songs of cheatin' and heartsickness. With each progressive album, Womack went slightly more pop, the commercial pinnacle being her sentimental 2000 hit, "I Hope You Dance," from the album of the same name. Nevertheless, by 2005, with the release of THERE'S MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM, Womack seemed to be reverting back to the straight-up, Tammy Wynette-inspired sound that impressed critics and fans at the start of her career.

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