Big Band Wonderland is jazz vocalist Gary Williams's eighth album, recorded in Kenilworth Studios in 2015. It is a collection of Christmas classics, recorded with full big band and featuring duets with Clare Teal and Michael Feinstein. More than half of the money for the album was raised with a crowd-funding appeal.
This is how Williams described his love of Christmas: "I was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, so I didn't celebrate Christmas till I was sixteen years old. When all my mates where out singing carols I was sitting at home cataloguing my stamp collection! Maybe that's why I love Christmas so much now, I'm making up for lost time."
His live Christmas show was given five stars by the London Evening Standard which described Gary as "…the UK's leading standard bearer for the supercool era".
Track listing
Personnel Performers Gary Williams – vocals Matt Regan – piano Joe Pettitt – bass Kevin Campbell – drums Jon Russell – guitar Tom Walsh – trumpets Simon Marsh and Jay Craig – saxes Chris Traves – trombone Anthony Kerr – vibes The Patriot Girls (Jo Gibb, Joanne Pullen, Marissa Dunlop) Backing Singers: Luke Evered, David Hilton, Victoria Keal, Iain Mackenzie, India Moynihan, Andy Playfoot, Patrick Smyth. Technical Producer and Studio Engineer: Chris Traves Executive Producer: Gary Williams Backing vocals arranged, directed and produced by Clive Dunstall Backing vocals recorded and mixed at Big Al's studio by Alex Bourne, and Tileyard Studios by Sean Hargreaves Arrangers: Phil Steel (tracks 1, 2, 3); Paul Campbell (tracks 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12); Andrew Cottee (tracks 7, 13); Callum Au (tracks 6, 9)
References
External links Official Gary Williams web site: Big Band Wonderland