''A Sentimental Christmas'' is the first

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

album by American

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

singer-songwriter

Kathy Troccoli Kathleen Troccoli (; born June 24, 1958) is an American contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter, author, and speaker. Early life and family Born in Brooklyn, New York, Troccoli was raised in Islip Terrace, Long Island, New York, w ...

. It was released on September 28, 1999, by

Reunion Records Reunion Records is a contemporary Christian record label based in Brentwood, Tennessee, that operates under the Provident Label Group. It was founded in 1982 by Dan Harrell and Mike Blanton. History The label was formed by Amy Grant's manager ...

. The album features

holiday A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often ...

favorites, plus a duet with

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

on his signature Christmas classic "

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" is a popular Christmas song written in 1963 by Edward Pola and George Wyle. It was recorded and released that year by pop singer Andy Williams for his first Christmas album, '' The Andy Williams Christm ...

" and an original song "Only Always" written by Troccoli and Jeff Franzel. Troccoli co-produced the album with Larry Day. ''A Sentimental Christmas'' debuted and peaked at number 40 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Heatseekers Albums The Heatseekers charts were "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales b ...

chart.

Track listing

#" White Christmas" (

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Acade ...

) - 4:22 #"

" (duet with

) (

Edward Pola Edward Pola (June 23, 1907 – November 3, 1995)Passenger list, S.S. ''Transylvania'', port of New York, 20 August 1931. was an American actor, radio/television producer, and songwriter. Biography Pola was born Sidney Edward Pollacsek in New York ...

George Wyle George Wyle (born Bernard Weissman; March 22, 1916 – May 2, 2003) was an American orchestra leader and composer best known for having written the theme song to 1960s television sitcom ''Gilligan's Island''. He is the grandfather of musici ...

) - 3:12 #"

O Little Town of Bethlehem "O Little Town of Bethlehem" is a Christmas carol. Based on an 1868 text written by Phillips Brooks, the carol is popular on both sides of the Atlantic, but to different tunes: in the United States and Canada, to "St. Louis" by Brooks' collabora ...

Away in a Manger "Away in a Manger" is a Christmas carol first published in the late nineteenth century and used widely throughout the English-speaking world. In Britain, it is one of the most popular carols; a 1996 Gallup Poll ranked it joint second. Although i ...

" (

Phillips Brooks Phillips Brooks (December 13, 1835January 23, 1893) was an American Episcopal clergyman and author, long the Rector of Boston's Trinity Church and briefly Bishop of Massachusetts. He wrote the lyrics of the Christmas hymn, " O Little Town o ...

/Traditional) - 2:43 #"Only Always" (

, Jeff Franzel) - 3:19 #"

Winter Wonderland "Winter Wonderland" is a song written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard Bernhard Smith. Due to its seasonal theme, it is often regarded as a Christmas song in the Northern Hemisphere. Since its original recording by Richard Himb ...

" (

Felix Bernard Felix William Bernard (April 28, 1897 – October 20, 1944) was an American conductor, pianist and a composer of popular music. His writing credits include the popular songs "Winter Wonderland" (with lyricist Richard Bernhard Smith) and "Dardanel ...

Richard Bernhard Smith Richard Bernhard Smith (September 29, 1901 – September 28, 1935) was an American lyricist who wrote the words for the popular Christmas song "Winter Wonderland", which was composed by Felix Bernard. Smith was born on September 29, 1901, in ...

) - 3:17 #" What Child Is This?" (

William Chatterton Dix William Chatterton Dix (14 June 1837 – 9 September 1898) was an English writer of hymns and Carol (music), carols. He was born in Bristol, the son of John Ross Dix, John Dix, a local surgeon, who wrote ''The Life of Chatterton'' the poet, a boo ...

) - 3:42 #"

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", also known as simply "Let It Snow", is a song written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in July 1945 in Hollywood, California, during a heatwave as Cahn and Styne imagined cooler conditions. ...

" (

Jule Styne Jule Styne ( ; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer widely known for a series of Broadway theatre, Broadway musical theatre, musicals, including several famous frequ ...

Sammy Cahn Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premie ...

) - 3:07 #"

I'll Be Home for Christmas "I'll Be Home for Christmas" is a Christmas song written by the lyricist Kim Gannon and composer Walter Kent and recorded in 1943 by Bing Crosby, who scored a top ten hit with the song. Originally written to honor soldiers overseas who longed ...

" (

Walter Kent Walter Kent (born Walter Maurice Kaufman, November 29, 1911 – March 2, 1994) was an American composer and conductor. Some notable compositions are: "I'll Be Home for Christmas", "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die" and "(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The W ...

Kim Gannon James Kimball "Kim" Gannon (November 18, 1900 – April 29, 1974) was an American songwriter, more commonly a lyricist than a composer. Biography Gannon was born in Brooklyn, New York to an Irish-American family from Fort Ann in upstate Ne ...

Buck Ram Samuel "Buck" Ram (November 21, 1907 – January 1, 1991) was an American songwriter, and popular music producer and arranger. He was one of BMI's top five songwriters/air play in its first 50 years, alongside Paul Simon, Kris Kristofferson, Ji ...

) - 3:45 #"

The Christmas Song "The Christmas Song" (commonly subtitled "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" or, as it was originally subtitled, "Merry Christmas to You") is a Christmas song written in 1945 by Robert Wells (songwriter), Robert Wells and Mel Tormé. The Nat K ...

" ( Robert Wells,

Mel Tormé Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "the Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arrangement, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roa ...

) - 3:28 #"

Sleigh Ride "Sleigh Ride" is a Light music, light orchestra Standard (music), standard composed by Leroy Anderson. He formed the idea for the piece during a heat wave in July 1946, and finished it in February 1948. Its first performance was by the Boston Po ...

" (

Leroy Anderson Leroy Anderson ( ; June 29, 1908 – May 18, 1975) was an American composer of short, Light music, light concert pieces, many of which were introduced by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler. John Williams descri ...

Mitchell Parish Mitchell Parish (born Michael Hyman Pashelinsky; July 10, 1900 – March 31, 1993) was an American lyricist, notably as a writer of songs for stage and screen. Biography Parish was born to a Jewish family in Lithuania, Russian Empire in July 190 ...

) - 3:46 #"

Silent Night "Silent Night" () is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO The United Nations Educati ...

" ( Franz X. Gruber,

Joseph Mohr Josephus Franciscus Mohr, sometimes spelled Josef (11 December 1792 – 4 December 1848) was an Austrian Roman Catholic priest and writer, who wrote the words to the Christmas carol "Silent Night." Early life and education Mohr was born in S ...

) - 4:32 #"

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is a song written in 1943 by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane and introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical '' Meet Me in St. Louis''. Frank Sinatra later recorded a version with modified lyrics. ...

" (

Hugh Martin Hugh Martin (August 11, 1914 – March 11, 2011) was an American musical theater and film composer, arranger, vocal coach, and playwright. He was best known for his score for the 1944 MGM musical '' Meet Me in St. Louis'', in which Judy Garla ...

Ralph Blane Ralph Blane (July 26, 1914 – November 13, 1995) was an American composer, lyricist, and performer. Life and career Blane was born Ralph Uriah Hunsecker in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. He attended Tulsa Central High School. He studied singing wit ...

) - 2:44

Personnel

* Kathy Troccoli – vocals * Jeff Franzel – acoustic piano * Robert Redd – acoustic piano * John Leonard – bass * Dominic Smith – drums * Mark Douthit – saxophones * Rob Holmes – saxophones * Ben Kono – saxophones * Luis Hernandez – saxophones * Marty Nau – saxophones, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone,

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

, horn contractor * Harvey Coonin – trombone * Jim McFalls – trombone * John Montgomery – trombone * Chris Walker – trumpet * Tom Williams – trumpet,

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

* Don Marsh – arrangements * Scott Silbert – arrangements *

– vocals (2)

Production

* Dean Diehl – executive producer * George King – executive producer * Kathy Troccoli – producer * Larry Day – producer * Lynn Fuston – engineer, mixing * Doug Sarrett – engineer * Michael Wilson – enhanced CD development * Elizabeth Workman – art direction * Chad Hunter – design * Tim Parker – design * Robert Fleischauer – photography

Critical reception

Steve Huey of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

says ''A Sentimental Christmas'' "plays it pretty safe, even as Christmas albums go — there's one new composition, 'Only Always,' but the other 11 selections (one a medley) are time-tested holiday standards performed with big-band arrangements. It's all very traditional, evoking images of warm fires and family gatherings, and that's exactly the kind of Christmas record most people will want." Tony Cummings of

Cross Rhythms Cross Rhythms is a Christian media organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It operates an FM and online radio station, produces radio shows sent internationally, and its website has resources about contemporary Christian music. His ...

has called the album a "classy set" and that Troccoli has added "jazz phrasing to her impressive vocal armoury and with her Sarah Vaughn-style interpretations of a set of Christmas standards and jazz accompaniments classily produced by Larry Day and Troccoli, this is definitely one for the sophisticates among us."

Charts

References

1999 Christmas albums Kathy Troccoli albums Reunion Records albums {{christian-album-stub