12 Songs of Christmas

12 Songs of Christmas is not the sound of a department store holiday rush: it is the sound of the city after the shops have closed and the snow has begun to settle. Etta James, an artist whose voice usually carries the weight of a thousand heartbreaks, pivots here toward a sophisticated, late-night jazz aesthetic.

Backed by the elegant piano of Cedar Walton, she transforms seasonal evergreens into intimate conversations. The grit is still there, but it is smoothed over with a layer of velvet and expensive bourbon.