A nice
Christmas
album from a quartet of players from the
Origin
stables. The bulk of the album is taken up with
standards
for the season, with a couple of old English
carols
thrown in, as well as a couple of new compositions by guitarist
Dave Peterson
(and a stray
Horace Silver
number). The tone taken throughout the proceedings is a full one, with thick notes on the sax and a good sustain on the guitar. Overall, the sound is very warm, very fresh, reminiscent of a smoky live performance with a theme to the session. A very nice instrumental replacement for the basic sung
standard
albums, this one seems made for seasonal party background music. ~ Adam Greenberg