Scoping my Facebook feed this morning, I read that Nancy Wilson has passed. She was one of the great singers of our time that went beyond jazz. She was a great story teller. I only got to hear her live once, but it was moving. I never got to meet her, but her musical director for many years, Llew Matthews, was my bandmate for five years in Los Angeles. I heard all kinds of wonderful stories from Llew about her. She will be missed, but her impact will live on in her recordings.
My first exposure to “That’s What I Want for Christmas” came from Nancy Wilson. You can hear it here. She really gets to the point of Christmas being the season of the heart. It isn’t about the things we buy, but that feeling of being acknowledged, needed, and loved by another.
“Just love me. Love me. That’s what I want for Christmas.”