featuring Tommy Smith (tenor saxophone), Gareth Williams (piano), Orlando Le Fleming (bass), Sebastiaan De Krom (drums)
- Winter Wonderland
- God Rest, Ye Merry Gentlemen
- Auld Land Syne
- I’ll Be Home For Christmas
- The Holy & The Ivy
- Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
- We Three Kings
- The Christmas Song
Reviews
John Fordham (The Guardian) — This might sound a bit of a turkey, as you might say, since it’s composed entirely Christmas songs, played by Scottish saxophonist Smith and a trio. But it’s impressive how well the sentimentality is replaced by a mysterious, almost abstract air. Winter Wonderland becomes a glimmering musical landscape rather than a Christmas card, with Smith’s haunting tenor sax curling over Gareth Williams’ enigmatic piano riff, and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen is a hard-toned, thundering Coltrane-quartet swinger. Smith’s superb tone control at low volumes poignantly reinvents Silent Night; Auld Lang Syne has a cocky strut to it, and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas murmurs like a drier Ben Webster before turning to the lazy mid-tempo swing effortlessly furnished by Orlando leFleming (bass) and Sebastiaan de Krom (drums). Whatever he does, Smith sounds like a man in charge these days.