JUDY WHITMORE, Christmas

Every year, when the calendar flips to November, the malls begin blasting the same old tunes we’ve heard for decades, terrestrial radio stations gear up to switch their formats and listeners with more discerning, hipster and jazzier tastes are left to flip through the streaming services in search of tracks to create the perfect party playlists to make the season bright.

Long beloved, critically acclaimed vocal stylist Judy Whitmore makes that task a whole lot easier this year, creating the ultimate mood setting repertoire with on her first holiday album, the simply and perfectly titled Christmas.

Creating a vibe with her legendary longtime arranger Chris Walden that’s warmly traditional yet often fresh and adventurous, the versatile singer plays to her strengths as an emotionally evocative balladeer and dedicated swing aficionado on a set of soulful and crisply arranged, mostly familiar classics – “Christmastime Is Here” (which features a lovely Josh Nelson piano solo),” “Merry Christmas Darling,” “Happy Holiday/The Holiday Season,” “The Christmas Waltz,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “The Man With the Bag,” et al.

Whitmore’s colorful surprises amidst the inviting familiarity include the joyful, high spirited opener “Kay Thompson’s Jingle Bells”; Irving Berlin’s lesser heard “Snow”; a heartfelt Hanukkah tune (“We Are Lights”) featuring music by Broadway legend Stephen Schwartz and performed as a beautiful duet with her brother Billy Grubman; and the a sweetly nostalgic original, “The Ghosts of Christmas Past,” which makes for the perfect closing reflection.