page_title: 12 Songs of Christmas (Etta James album)
section_title: Composition
hierarchical_section_title: 12 Songs of Christmas (Etta James album) / Composition
caption_attribution_description: Cedar Walton, March 2001 in Dachau
context_page_description: 12 Songs of Christmas is the twenty-second studio album and the first holiday album by American singer Etta James, released in October 1998 through the record label Private Music. The album, produced by John Snyder, features standards arranged mostly by pianist Cedar Walton and solos by Walton, George Bohanon on trombone and Red Holloway on tenor saxophone. Critical reception of the album was positive overall. Following its release, 12 Songs reached a peak position of number five on Billboard's Top Blues Albums chart.
context_section_description: 12 Songs of Christmas consists of twelve standard holiday songs with arrangements mostly by pianist Cedar Walton and solos by Walton, George Bohanon on trombone and Red Holloway on tenor saxophone. The album combines James' blues style with a jazz sound. 12 Songs, recorded during May and June 1998, was produced by John Snyder with Lupe DeLeon serving as executive producer.
  The album opens with "Winter Wonderland", originally by Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith, followed by James Pierpont's "Jingle Bells". A "bluesy" rendition of Lou Baxter and Johnny Moore's "Merry Christmas, Baby" trails "This Time of Year" (Hollis, Owens). Other holiday standards appearing on the album include: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin), John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie's "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", and "White Christmas", originally by Irving Berlin. "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)", originally by Mel Tormé and Robert Wells, "The Little Drummer Boy (Carol of the Drum)" (Katherine Kennicott Davis, Henry Onorati, Harry Simeone), Franz Xaver Gruber and Joseph Mohr's "Silent Night", and "Joy to the World" (George Frideric Handel, Lowell Mason, Isaac Watts) follow. The album closes with a rendition of Adolphe Adam and John Sullivan Dwight's "O Holy Night".
caption: Arranger and pianist Cedar Walton performing in 2001
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