As a general rule of thumb, I hate Christmas music. There are a select few albums I'll allow to be played in my house, like A Charlie Brown Christmas (as long as you skip the kids singing) and Ella's album rarely gets old. Same with Jimmy Smith or Kenny Burrell, both who turned out some pretty solid jazz efforts that happened to be Christmas repertoire. Even James Brown's xmas recordings are fun to listen to every now and again. But I still like to look for something new, which led me to this album by "Montgomery Bruce":http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=268391847&s=143441, "Bossa Noel: A Chilled Out Christmas" (can I get some wine with that cheese?).The music isn't necessarily all that intriguing, but the arrangements throw you some twists and turns that at a casual listen might slip past you. For example, the melodies have a lot more room to breathe between phrases, and most everything is reharmonized with more complex jazz voicings on the guitar. But beyond that, nothing will be over your head. It's basically the most interesting background music you'll find this Christmas. There's a certain beauty in such a thing. The whole album just has this stripped down feeling, as if you were at a rehearsal for some Creed Taylor session in the mid '60s but the orchestra hadn't shown up yet.It may not be for everybody, but it's my recommendation for the season. Enjoy!
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