My Favorite Time of the Year is a studio album by American singer Dionne Warwick. It was released by DMI Records on October 26, 2004 in the United States. Produced by Tena Rix Clark, it is Warwick's first Christmas album and her only record to be solely released by DMI. My Favorite Time of the Year consists of thirteen tracks, featuring one original song penned and recorded with Bebe Winans and twelve cover versions of Christmas standards and carols, one of which is a duet with Gladys Knight. The album debuted and peaked at number 49 on the US Top Holiday Albums.
Critical reception
Allmusic editor Rob Theakston wrote that Warwick's "velvety smooth voice glazes through each track quite seamlessly. The contemporary over polished production and the inclusion of smooth jazz icon Dave Koz might be a detraction to some listeners, but there's a beautiful duet with longtime friend Gladys Knight [...] Much like her non-holiday fare, this is a charming and warm affair from start to finish a level of quality you'd come to expect from Warwick. While it's definitely been worth the wait, here's hoping a follow-up is shortly in order." Robert Christgau wrote about the album: "If new Christmas product you must have, these oldies definitely outshine newies from Darlene Love (eh) and Taylor Swift (ugh)."
Track listing All tracks produced by Tena Rix Clark.
Personnel Dionne Warwick – vocals Tim Heintz – acoustic piano, keyboards, music and string arrangements Tim Pierce – guitars John Peña – bass Ricky Lawson – drums Paulinho da Costa – percussion Dave Koz – saxophone (2, 4, 10) Joseph Alfuso – string orchestration and conductor Alex Brown – backing vocals Bridgette Bryant-Blades – backing vocals Dee Harvey – backing vocals BeBe Winans – vocals (6) Gladys Knight – vocals (12) Carmen Twillie – vocal arrangements (4, 7), all other vocal arrangements Tena Clark – all other vocal arrangements
Technical Gabriel Moffat – recording Ed Wooley – second engineer Milton Gutierrez Ruezga – assistant engineer Don Murray – mixing Robert Vosgien – mastering at Capitol Mastering (Hollywood, California)
Production and design credits Brad Rivers – production manager William Ford – art direction Peleg Top – art direction, package design Harry Langdon – photography Ethan Crimmins – managing director, special products Jalila Larsuel – public relations Ken Batchelor – vice president, marketing
Charts + Weekly chart performance for My Favorite Time of the Year Chart (2004) Peakposition
Release history + My Favorite Time of the Year release history Region Date Format Label Various October 26, 2004 DMI
References