Our Review
Geez, when you pick up the album, you just have to love this guy in the red plaid shirt gracing the cover. What a friendly, open face! And his first name is Kermit!? This jazzy offering owned me before the first notes sounded.
Oh, and did I mention that I am a huge fan of jazz trumpet (having played a feeble wah-wah trumpet myself in a swing band many, many moons ago)? Jazz trumpeter Kermit Ruffins does not disappoint. His hoppin' Have a Crazy Cool Christmas! is lively and quick, with satiny edges and a bluesy soul. This is really nice New Orleans jazz; the emphasis is appropriately on brass, and Ruffins naturally leads the band. In addition to blistering instrumentals, Ruffins lays down some tantalizing vocal tracks, too. The star, though, is his smokin' trumpet, which sulks and sashays its way through every classic cut, and the rest of his excellent brass-centric band.
Kermit Ruffins curls my toes on What Will Santa Say When He Find Everybody Swingin', a cool Louis Prima creation that had previously escaped my notice. What a primal screamer with a get-down beat! Ruffins wrote the title track, a sassy holiday homage to the Big Easy; it ends with a squealin' trumpet crescendo into the stars.
Have a Crazy Cool Christmas! is a brassy embrace for the holiday season. Jazz aficionados will find much to love here, especially those who favor New Orleans stylings. Crazy cool!
--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2009)
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From the liner notes:
Kermit Ruffins: Vocals, Trumpet
Also appearing:
Terence Andrews
Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews
Valarie Batiste
Vincent Broussard
Neal Caine
Jessica Doyle
Philip Frazier, II
Cherylyn Ganor
Bambi Hall
Michaela Harrison
Corey Henry
Elray Holmes
Matt Lemler
Ronald Markham
Irvin Mayfield
Louis "Red" Morgan
Nicondra Norwood
Herlin Riley
Karen Ruffins
Kaylin Ruffins
Derrick Tabb
Eric Traub
Alfred Westin
From the Website:
Passion. The 44-year-old New Orleans native lives it, plays it and sings about it, and nowhere is it more evident than when he discusses his craft--the swinging, good-time jazz that lured him in as a teenager and continues to whet his appetite even three decades and 10 solo recordings later.
Kermit Ruffins
Have a Crazy Cool Christmas
Artist link
Label: Basin Street Records
Length: 59 minutes
Genre: Jazz
Release: 2009
Track List
| Song Title |
|---|
| Silent Night |
| Santa Claus is Coming to Town |
| What Will Santa Say When He Finds Everybody Swingin' |
| O Christmas Tree |
| Baby It's Cold Outside |
| A Saints Christmas |
| Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow |
| Little Drummer Boy |
| Silver Bells |
| Crazy Cool Christmas |
| Winter Wonderland |
| This Christmas |
| Jingle Bells |