To celebrate Christmas 2003, tenor saxophonist Anton Schwartz recorded this rather brief CD, performing four Yuletide favorites with his quartet plus "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning." While "Jingle Bells" is transformed into a modal piece, "Winter Wonderland" and "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning" are straightforward, "The Christmas Song" is given a warm treatment, and "Sleigh Ride" becomes a romp in 7/4 time. Schwartz sometimes overdubs a second horn for the ensembles, his rhythm section is fine in support, and the tenor man, who occasionally shows off the influence of John Coltrane but mostly sounds individual, is in excellent form throughout this abbreviated but worthy disc. ~ Scott Yanow
Rovi