Anna Wilson 'Yule Swing' album

"Yule Swing!" is jazz singer/songwriter Anna Wilson's timeless collection of 10 original holiday songs written to capture the festive spirit of the season with classic style, flair and fun. Wilson's rich and textured vocals are featured, as are duets with jazz trumpeter, Rick Braun and rising country star, Chuck Wicks. "Yule Swing!" also includes a special holiday version of Wilson's Habitat for Humanity-inspired single, "A House, A Home".

‘Tis the season to be...original!

Celebrating the holidays with her inimitable flair, sass and style, singer-songwriter Anna Wilson makes a bold and exciting promise to fans of Christmas music looking to be inspired by more than chestnuts roasting over open fires and those well-worn jingling bells: Yule Swing! Reflective of the two musical genres that have defined Wilson’s professional career – jazz and country/pop, this compelling song collection, released on Transfer Records, features guest performances by jazz trumpet great, Rick Braun and rising country star, Chuck Wicks. The project also highlights her ongoing work with Habitat for Humanity International and includes a holiday version of her Habitat-inspired single, “A House, A Home.”

Venturing beyond the holiday songs we’ve all heard a million times, the multi-talented, Nashville-based performer draws on her passion for intimate jazz and big band music to fashion 10 new tracks that set standards all their own. Wilson says, “The challenge was to write classic songs with universal messages that sound fresh year after year. Yule Swing! gave me a wonderful opportunity to do this, while merging my worlds and allowing my songwriting and artistic strengths as an artist to shine.”

Wilson co-produced the album at The Court Recording Studios with her husband and longtime collaborator Monty Powell, a famed songwriter who has penned hits for everyone from Tim McGraw and Diamond Rio to Billy Ray Cyrus and Keith Urban. Her other co-writers on Yule Swing! are Jeff Franzel (Frank Sinatra, Les Brown, Dianne Reeves, Josh Groban), who also plays piano, and Scarlet Keys (a jazz songwriting professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston); who co-wrote “Wish.”

Wilson gets the Yule Swing! party off to a festive start with the high-energy, bright and brassy title track. She then beats Santa to the city limits with “Christmas Is Coming To Town,” an easy swaying piano trio gem that finds her in delightful anticipation of all the fun-filled activities to come. A slow burning horn section simmers beneath the wistful and charming imagery of “Through Their Eyes,” a nostalgic tune that connects the hopes and dreams of children and adults. After the kiddies go to bed, Wilson leaves the adults plenty of time for “Holiday Lovin’,” a playfully swinging blues-jazz romp – complete with the spirited Hammond B-3 of co-writer Paul Gordon – that paints the perfect romantic Christmas Eve. That romance grows friskier on “Light Me Up,” Wilson’s sly and powerful duet with Chuck Wicks. She then fades gently into a dreamy afterglow on the torchy ballad “Wish,” which sends a melancholy yet ultimately hopeful message to an ex-lover. The gentle, sparsely arranged “One Day” is the singer’s way of expressing gratitude for the love of family often taken for granted at holiday time. Truly, as Wilson so eloquently sings, family is “everything we’ll ever need.” She lifts the tempo up again on the high strutting, clever and witty homage to the so often neglected woman behind the magic of Christmas, “Mrs. Claus.” On this track, which features an exuberant big band arrangement, the singer sassily requests “a date with Mr. C.” In addition to including a holiday rendition of the Habitat-themed song, “A House, A Home,” featuring Rick Braun on muted trumpet, a video will be released in the fall. Wilson concludes by thinking beyond December 25 and into January with a soft spoken yet passionate song about making “Resolutions.”

Anna Wilson has been making creative resolutions since she was a kid growing up in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania. As a child, she listened to her piano playing mother’s collection of show tunes, Great American Songbook standards and the classic works of Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland. “I love those old standards dearly,” she says, “but there are so many artists out there who do them well. My goal has always been to establish myself as an artist who writes 100 percent of my material. I’m also excited about the ongoing possibility of creating new jazz songs for younger listeners and fans that have listened to the classics over and over and are eager for a different spin on the modern world. We have a saying in Nashville -- It all begins with the song. I enjoyed recording Yule Swing! but the best part of my process was the songwriting.”

Wilson’s successful songwriting career continues to thrive as she establishes herself as an independent jazz artist, and she has a lot to be jazzed about this holiday season. She co-wrote one of the hottest country singles of the year, Chuck Wick’s “All I Ever Wanted.” RCA released the track as a follow-up to Wicks’ breakthrough hit “Stealing Cinderella” and the single hit the Top 20 on Radio & Records’ and Billboard’s country charts. Wilson’s other recent single is Suzy Bogguss’ “The Bus Ride” – a song that hails from Anna’s first album The Long Way. These accomplishments nicely complement Wilson’s remarkable catalogue that includes album cuts for artists like Reba McEntire, Lee Ann Womack, Billy Ray Cyrus and Chris Cagle.

Anna Wilson’s songwriting and artistry is also featured though her relationship with Habitat for Humanity and their continued use of “A House, A Home.” The original version of the song is included in Habitat’s public service announcements that began appearing on TV and radio in the fall of 2007, receiving over $5 million in free national and international advertising. Anna also makes special Habitat appearances, most recently performing at the opening ceremony of the 25th Anniversary Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project. The event, which refocused international attention on the Gulf Coast housing crisis featured remarks by the Carters, as well as Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.

In addition to her Habitat appearances, Wilson has performed as part of Jazz For A Cause at the Sundance Film Festival – a private event with Josh Groban; The Artist Dinner: The Sweetest Sixteen during the High Museum Atlanta Wine Auction, which was hosted by visual artist Thomas Arvid and his wife Vanessa; The Flowering of The Vines at The Napa Valley Reserve; l’Ete du Vin at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville; and the world renowned Park City Jazz Festival in Utah. Over the years, the versatile artist has also shared concert billing with country and pop stars such as Keith Urban, Boz Scaggs, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin and Dar Williams.

It was her highly-acclaimed CD Time Changes Everything, however, which broke her into the jazz world and captured the attention of jazz aficionados and critics alike. Jazz Times’ praised her saying “She’s got a voice like crème de cacao and an inner metronome that swings wildly from age to age.” The Philadelphia Daily News compared her to Carole King and Bette Midler. Well-known Music City critics and the Nashville Scene stated, “her songwriting is her ace in the hole…sounding like timeless Cole Porter classics,” and the Nashville Music Guide said, “her unique voice reminds me of the torch singers of the Forties with a contemporary lilt…”

As for Yule Swing! Wilson states, “I want this to be the record people put on when they’re decorating their tree and making their holiday turkey; something that makes them feel festive as they celebrate the joys of the holiday season.” Wherever you listen and whatever you’re doing while she’s bringing out your Christmas spirit, Anna Wilson guarantees one thing – Yule Swing!

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Anna Wilson - Yule Swing