Crescent City Christmas Card
Christmas jazz albums come and go with each end-of-year holiday season. And while they may make for good soundtracks to that holiday spirit, rarely do they stand up as much more than that, and certainly not as anything approaching a serious listen. While the material here may be rendered in the familiar Christmas spirit of good cheer (check out Wynton Marsalis on the back cover with mismatched green and red socks decking out his white suit), and the songs are in the familiar Christian tradition of the holiday, the arrangements are fresh and are delivered with memorable turns on "Silent Night" by opera diva Kathleen Battle, and on "Sleigh Ride" by Jon Hendricks. The playing is spirited and the material is dealt with in a manner suggesting great care in both delivery and arrangement.--Willard Jenkins