Jazz guitarist Wayne Wilkinson has built a career on clarity, swing, and an impeccable melodic touch; perfecting the kind of effortless fluency that only four decades on international stages can produce. His latest release, “Holly Tunes,” channels that experience into an intimate, trio-centered holiday album that is as comfortable as a fireside chair and as precise as a perfectly voiced chord.
The album finds Wilkinson supported by longtime collaborators Andy Burtschi (bass) and Scott Barbier (drums), with pianist and arranger Thomas J. Dawson Jr. adding gentle splashes of strings and organ. Together, the band delivers eleven deeply personal, straight-ahead jazz interpretations of seasonal standards.
https://waynewilkinson.bandcamp.com/album/holly-tunes
The track list is familiar, but the interpretations are anything but generic. Wilkinson approaches well-worn melodies with a craftsman’s ear: clean articulation, tasteful space, and a melodic sensibility that avoids flash in favor of expressive nuance.
https://open.spotify.com/album/6QN1blpnDVn1sEUTRgR5kw
“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” opens the album with Wilkinson’s guitar singing the melody with brisk, relaxed swing. But the track doesn’t just follow the familiar tune, and builds into a delightful stretch of call and response where the drums, bass and guitar riff off each other with a warm fluidity.
“Silent Night” stands as the emotional centerpiece, with Wilkinson’s chord voicings giving the tune a glowing, nocturnal intimacy. The added violin and soft piano textures are understated, almost evaporating at the edges, allowing the guitar to carry the emotional weight. It’s a soothing and nostalgic melody that’s less about innovation and more about paying homage to the classics.
The closer, “Little Drummer Boy,” showcases the trio at its most interactive. Wilkinson lets the rhythmic motif breathe, using short melodic fragments and open space to build tension while the rhythm section provides a subtle undertone. It’s a lesson in restraint, and a reminder of the trio’s incredible harmony.
One of the album’s strengths is its refusal to overproduce. The sound is intimate and unfussy with the guitar placed forward, bass supportive, and the drums light. Dawson’s strings and organ are used sparingly, serving as gentle seasonal accents rather than grand gestures.
For listeners who crave a holiday record built not on ornamentation but on musicianship, Holly Tunes is a gift. It’s jazz guitar played with taste, intelligence, and an unmistakably personal touch.