Following a recording hiatus that stretched for over two decades,
Steve Perry returned to the studio for 2018's
Traces, his third solo album and first since leaving
Journey in 1998. Having re-established himself in the 21st century, the Bay Area rock legend offers up his first-ever holiday album in 2021's
The Season. Leaning heavily on his jazz chops,
Perry plays the crooner on eight well-known Yuletide favorites. In terms of material, there are no great surprises here; standards like "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" are delivered with a relatively casual elegance, relying on little more than voice and piano. Elsewhere,
Perry works his band up to a mild soft pop froth on "Winter Wonderland" and "Silver Bells." He's at his best on the more downplayed jazz arrangements like "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve," a slightly lesser-known midcentury chestnut originally made popular by singers like
Ella Fitzgerald and
Nancy Wilson. It's not a major record for the singer, but at 72,
Perry's voice has aged into the kind of sweet whiskeyed tenor that sits nicely in this jazz standard milieu. ~ Timothy Monger