Artist: Bethany McCade
Album Title: A Little Christmas
Genre/Style: Jazz Vocal
Release Year: 2010
Bethany McCade is not a star. In fact, she’s not even on the map. She’s a singer and actress trying to make her mark in Houston, Texas, and A Little Christmas is her second album. Despite all the obstacles a person faces when trying to produce music on their own — finances, technology, distribution to name a few — she’s managed to put out a collection of recordings that is vastly superior to any number of releases from household names.
What makes A Little Christmas work? Well, it’s clearly a labor of love. There’s nothing crass about it. The song list is eclectic, including several titles that were new to me. McCade seems to be throwing the kitchen sink at it instrumentally, and that sometimes overwhelms her voice, which is smallish and a little childlike. The arrangements are jaunty and fun . “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve” — which is rapidly becoming a standard on jazz vocal albums like this — is usually pretty lugubrious, but McCade’s interpretation is downright snappy.
Rating: 
I don’t know if a successful singing career is in the cards for Bethany McCade, but she handles Christmas quite nicely.
