Music Review: Julie Benko Brings Home The Holidays With CHRISTMAS WITH YOU EP

Broadway star Julie Benko has been teasing fans and Christmas enthusiasts for a few weeks, now, with one single and then another, in anticipation of her new holiday EP titled CHRISTMAS WITH YOU.  First out was her duet with the extraordinary Mykal Kilgore, (I NEVER HAD A) CHRISTMAS WITH YOU (read the review HERE) and she followed it up a few weeks later with THE MAN WITH THE BAG (read the review HERE).  Last night at midnight the entire recording dropped, and the timing couldn’t be better because it’s December 1st and, officially, time to get into the seasonal spirit (ok, some people start when Santa arrives at the Thanksgiving Parade, but not this girl - it’s December 1st or nothing at all).  The four-song set that is CHRISTMAS WITH YOU is a wonderful addition to your holiday music collection, with each of the tracks fitting tidily into a different role, and all of them expertly arranged and conducted by Benko’s husband, genius jazz savant Jason Yeager, who has a flourishing career of his own but who is always by Julie’s side as her Musical Director and main squeeze.  

Opening number (EVERYBODY’S WAITIN' FOR) THE MAN WITH THE BAG is pure party play, a swing number with a sweet-sounding band rocking out as they give the velvet-voiced Benko all the support she needs to get the party started.  Full of brass blasting, drum licks beating, and the tinkling of the Eighty-Eights, the Yeager treatment successfully conjures the holiday celebration vibe, avoiding the cloying sweetness of many holiday recordings, and just right for the grown-ups, the toe tappers, and the lovers of exquisite vocal performance.  The follow-up cut is a sultry, sexy, retro-sounding bluesy duet with Benko and Kylgore singing their faces off on a number for which Julie, herself, owns the writing credits.  It seems the Funny Girl is actually a Rennaisance Woman, and (I NEVER HAD A) CHRISTMAS WITH YOU is a new classic that can take the place of some of the older blues numbers that may have become a bit ubiquitous over the years, due to overplay.  

The two numbers on the EP that are new, as of today’s release, are simply exquisite, and, like the two cuts that have already gotten into our system since their individual releases, they fill a very specific role.  The third track on the album is TUMBALALAIKA, a traditional Yiddish composition that Benko and Yeager have preserved in this new recording with artistic determination and joyful precision.  Benko, a prominent member of the Jewish community, honors her faith, her people, their history, and their traditions with this stunning and jubilant recording.  It is all happiness, listening to Jason and Julie bring the song to life, and it is not only a pleasure to hear music from the world of Jewish music included on this Christmas album, it is a privilege.  

And, quite finally, the Yeagers close out their mini-exploration into the December holidays with the classic HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS.  The song introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 film Meet Me In St. Louis has become one of the most beloved, most popular, most frequently performed and recorded holiday songs in the history of Christmas music.  And this girl who has worshipped Judy Garland since the age of six, and who has judged, harshly, every performance of this song ever performed, can now report that the Julie Benko and Jason Yeager recording of the Martin and Blane classic will forever be second only to that of Judy Garland.  With a simple piano arrangement that is both heartwarming and plaintive, Jason’s hands on the keys, Julie’s mellifluous voice on melody, and acting skills on lyrics, the recording is a sublime slice of heaven, especially when Julie Benko opts for the original film score lyric that carries the emotional weight of the story: "Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow."  I dare you not to cry, and cry, you will.  But you will smile, too, because it’s a perfect performance, a perfect recording, and a perfect way to end the holiday EP that you just have to get into your collection.  Thanks to Benko and Co., we can definitely declare that the holiday has begun.

CHRISTMAS WITH YOU is a 2023 release on the Club44 Records label.  It is available on all digital platforms.  The Club44 Records website is HERE.

Stream CHRISTMAS WITH YOU on Spotify HERE buy it on Amazon HERE for an affordable five dollars and really support the artists.

CHRISTMAS WITH YOU was arranged by Jason Yeager and produced by Julie Benko and Jason Yeager.  Jason Yeager's website is HERE and Julie Benko's is HERE.

Writing credits for CHRISTMAS WITH  YOU:

(Everybody's Waiting For) The Man with the Bag (Irving Taylor, Dudley Brooks, and Hal Stanley)

(I Never Had a) Christmas with You (Julie Benko)

Tumbalalaika (Traditional)

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane)

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