Review and More

Our Review

This is the sort of record that would have been described in earlier days as "classy". A skilled, schooled, cool jazz, it harks back to the Vince Guaraldi trio with its 60ish sensibilities. Piano player Alex Leonard can sing as well as keyboard. I enjoyed his relaxed vocal style and playful lyrical flourishes, such as his scat verse on God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.

His interpretations are lively and inventive, often mixing jazz riffs with more traditional inflections, not unlike the way ska is used to punch up punk rock. Some songs yield to jazz treatment more than others. Thad Jones' A Child is Born works so well it is already a standard. Leonard's arrangement is mellow and poignant.

Leonard's quintet (Edward Brown, guitar, Steve LaSpina, bass, Danny Venditti, drums, and Rijou, percussion) achieves its rich-textured sound with ample guitar harmonies and percussive variety, completely avoiding the oppressive dryness I hear in so many jazz recordings. Indeed, this is a recording that won't disappoint jazz listeners, but what I like most is its accessibility to "lesser ears". Like mine.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2002)

More

From the liner notes:

Merry Cool Christmas features unique, swinging and romantic jazz arrangements of holiday melodies. Recorded at Bennett Studios in Englewood, New Jersey, it features Alex Leonard on piano and vocal along with Edward Brown on Guitar and lute, Steve LaSpina on bass, Danny Venditti on drums and Rijou on percussion. The original watercolor artwork for the CD was painted by J. Rijou Brown.

Alex Leonard

Merry Cool Christmas

Artist link

Track List