Former Milwaukee R&B singer and current Wall Street Journal scribe Lee Hawkins could only have given his collection of Nativity music a higher concept title had he called it Christmas. The obvious moniker, however, points to the solemnity of the project. Anyone seeking holiday listening peppered with Santa Claus, snowmen and jingling bells would be advised to go elsewhere. The combination of his wonderfully elastic, multiple-octave voice wed to orchestration that never overpowers the lyrics is on par with seasonal classics by such perennials as Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Andy Williams, and one of Hawkins' probable singing influences, Johnny Mathis.
Where Hawkins departs company from those gents is his propensity toward minor key compositions, seemingly foreshadowing the babe's death some 30 years later. The catholicity of selections, ranging from Reformation hymnody to contemporary fare, speaks to Hawkins' diversity of approach, too. Songs whets a listener's appetite for more of Hawkins' secular love songs, but his challenge will be matching the quality he proffers here.
