[Dixielandjazz] Christmas Album

[Stephen G Barbone]

If you are looking for a Christmas music CD that's a little different,  
you might consider this one: (From a NY Times List)

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband

WYNTON MARSALIS: ‘CHRISTMAS JAZZ JAM’ (Somerset, $9.99). Originally  
released as a Target exclusive last year, “Christmas Jazz Jam”  
warrants a second look for its boisterous poise and for the sharpest  
“Jingle Bells” in recent memory. Wynton Marsalis, trumpet in hand,  
finesses a dozen holiday standards in all, leading a midsize cohort of  
trusted sidemen. Wycliffe Gordon is here (on trombone and tuba), and  
so are Wessell Anderson (alto saxophone), Reginald Veal (on bass) and  
Herlin Riley (drums). And as he did on “Crescent City Christmas Card,”  
from 1989, Mr. Marsalis briefly features a classical soprano,  
presenting her as a welcome peer. (It was Kathleen Battle then; it’s  
Roberta Gumbel now.) The arrangements are slangy but tight, usually  
riffing on New Orleans polyphony but occasionally evoking midcentury  
modern jazz: on “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” Mr. Marsalis  
puts a mute in his horn and nods toward the Miles Davis of 1950s  
vintage, to fine effect. NATE CHINEN