Artist:Vanessa Williams
Song:What Child Is This?
Album:Star Bright
This is the time of year when I may recommend Christmas music. Vanessa Williams had a lot of success in the early 90s with hits like Save the Best for Last. But she faded by the late 90s and left Mercury for Atlantic in 1997. But before she left Mercury, she recorded the 1996 Christmas album Star Bright which features a really nice jazzy version of What Child Is This?. What Child Is This? was not recorded for that album. It was recorded for the 1992 various artists album A Very Special Christmas 2. This album was produced by Jimmy Iovine to benefit the Special Olympics. Iovine produced some original tracks for the album. And some were previously released. But What Child Is This? was produced for this CD by Vanessa and her producer at the time Gerry E. Brown. Brown was mainly a recording engineer. With Vanessa, it was his only producing credit. Vanessa was sometimes credited as co-producer. Her recording of What Child Is This? has a jazzy vibe. At the time, Brown was producing the 1993 album The Sweetest Thing. Jazz musicians Roy Hargrove, Ron Blake, Ron Carter and Peter Erskine appear on The Sweetest Thing so that has to be them on What Child Is This?. When Star Bright was released in 1996, Mercury added What Child Is This? to the album. Most of that album was produced by session trumpeter Jeff Kievet meaning Vanessa actually produced it. It's mostly Christmas standards. Universal reissued Star Bright as part of their 20th Century Masters series. It has a different cover but it's the same album. Vanessa left Mercury to concentrate on acting. She signed with Lava/Atlantic and released a second Christmas album Silver & Gold in 2004. Vanessa last released an album in 2021. She still does TV guest shots. Here's the video for What Child Is This? by Vanessa Williams.
No comments:
Post a Comment