| Simply Christmas | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 11, 2016 | |||
| Genre | Christmas | |||
| Length | 31:19 | |||
| Label | S-Curve Records | |||
| Leslie Odom Jr. chronology | ||||
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Simply Christmas, the second album and first Christmas album by American actor and singer Leslie Odom Jr., features jazz interpretations of Christmas standards. It was released in November 2016. A year later, in October 2017, a deluxe edition was released with four additional songs. [1]
Odom was signed to a four-album deal with S-Curve Records in 2016. [2] The first album, an updated and improved re-release of Leslie Odom Jr. , was released in June 2016, before Odom left the Broadway cast of Hamilton , [3] and charted at No. 1 on Billboard Jazz and No. 147 on Billboard 200.
Odom had frequently been asked by fans to make a Christmas album, leading to the creation of Simply Christmas. [4] Odom strove for a more unique sound: "I didn’t want it to be sad. I didn’t want it to be sullen. But I don’t think the album was really ever cheerful," he said in an interview. [5]
Before recording, Odom and producer Steve Greenberg developed a list of 75–100 Christmas songs to choose from. [5] Odom referred to the Carpenters' song "Merry Christmas Darling" as a "surprise" addition from Greenberg that Odom didn't expect to work, "but it ended up working." [5]
After recording Simply Christmas, Odom was dissatisfied with the initial result. He told The Wall Street Journal :
When we got the masters back in September, I hated them. It was so bad. I was already hard on myself in the vocal booth – whenever you're setting out to record something like "The Christmas Song," it's a lot different than singing at a Christmas party. You want to make sure that it sounds sincere and honest. When I was listening to it I hated it so much. We begged for a little bit more time from the record company... We took the thing apart. [5]
On November 11, 2016, after Odom rerecorded a number of tracks, S-Curve released Simply Christmas as Odom's second album.
In an interview with the New York Observer , Odom added that he wanted to create an album that didn't feel disconnected from the political climate, an album with a "finger on the pulse of the time we're living in." [6] He also noted, "We give ourselves permission to abandon ship if a project isn't working out. We'd rather walk out then put something out that's subpar. We didn't know if the Christmas album would be something we're proud of, but it is." [6]
For the 2017 Christmas season, a deluxe edition of the album was released in October 2017 with four additional songs: "The Christmas Waltz", "Christmas", "Edelweiss", and "Please Come Home for Christmas". [1]
Odom toured in 2016 and 2017 to promote the album, performing concerts backed by a jazz quintet that included a drummer, percussionist, bassist, guitarist, and a pianist who is also Odom's musical director. [7]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" | 4:24 |
| 2. | "First Noel" | 3:08 |
| 3. | "My Favorite Things" | 5:51 |
| 4. | "I'll Be Home for Christmas" | 3:43 |
| 5. | "The Christmas Song" | 4:06 |
| 6. | "Merry Christmas Darling" | 2:50 |
| 7. | "Winter Song" | 4:03 |
| 8. | "Ave Maria" | 3:15 |
| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 [8] | 31 |