If you were not aware, Penni Layne belts out R&B/Soul, crosses over into Jazz, takes a dance break into EDM, and floats into singer/songwriter melodies.

Under the helm of Penni Layne (vocalist) and Larry Jackson (bassist), they write, produce, arrange, record and perform music that speaks to the soul.

“I wanted to record and produce, along with my husband / partner / collaborator / fellow musician, Larry Jackson, an album that stays true to lyrical intention and evoke the listener to holidays past with our new album, “Warm In December”. We also aimed to showcase a sound of minimalism and timelessness, which is why we thought the medium of a jazz quintet was the perfect canvas.”

“I am immediately transported to my childhood as soon as the first strains of “The Christmas Song” by Nat King Cole, begins. And certainly, my December playlist has grown over the years. We have chosen to have all important standard classic Christmas songs on this album, but then also added a few “not as known” gems, as well as our original song, “At the First Snowfall”.”

“So now, since playful melodies like “I Love the Winter Weather”, or touching lyrics from a “Christmas Love Song” have become an embedded part of our holiday traditions we felt they needed to be part of this project.”

1. Winter Wonderland
2. Warm In December
3. The Christmas Song
4. Let It Snow
5. At The First Snowfall
6. I’ll Be Home For Christmas
7. I Love The Winter Weather
8. A Christmas Love Song
9. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
10. Sleigh Ride

This vibrantly impassioned new Holiday recording opens on a delicately hued Winter Wonderland and the joyful Warm In December and then they bring us the beautifully ornate The Christmas Song, a playful Let It Snow, and then we get the luxuriant At The First Snowfall brought forth.

Along next is the gently flourishing I’ll Be Home For Christmas and the flirtatious finger-snapper I Love The Winter Weather which are in turn followed by the elegant gossamer of A Christmas Love Song, the collection rounding out on the gentle dancefloor swirl of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, closing on the infectious two-step of Sleigh Ride.

“For Warm In December, I first heard this song in a recording by Julie London,” explains Layne. “I am always on the lookout for new holiday material that speaks to me and maybe a little off the beaten path, as I love “all things Christmas” at this special time of year. I love her soul, her musical interpretation and simplicity, her sex appeal, her. She’s a goddess in my book. And this song just eggs that on. That “if you get with me, I’ll keep you warm.”

The Players:
Penni Layne - Vocals
Michael Kanan - Piano
Neal Miner - Bass
Greg Ruggiero - Guitar
Keith Balla - Drums

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