The story about there being more suicides around the holidays turns out to be a myth, but like all urban legends, it caught on among the populace (or at least among lazy journalists) because it sounds like it should be true; as trumpeter
Chris Botti
writes in a sleeve note to his seasonal collection,
December
, "At no other time of the year is there a wider array of emotions than the month of December." This is a clue that
Botti
, in acceding to his record company's request that he undertake a
Christmas
album, was not interested in simply celebrating the season in his interpretations of
holiday
standards
. There have been other such contemplative
records:
George Winston
's album, also called
, is calm rather than celebratory, and
Barbra Streisand
's
Christmas Memories
, released in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, is another collection that takes in the season's complexities. Add
's album to that list. The approach, of course, fits in with the trumpeter's overall musical style. Often heard through a mute, his playing usually has an intimate, low-key character, and that is true here, too. Critics have compared him to
Miles Davis
, and to that one easily may add
Chet Baker
, especially because like
Baker
,
has chosen to sing here, applying an adequate tenor to
Richard Marx
"Perfect Day"
and
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
(the latter one of the more troubled of lyrics to become a
standard). It isn't all doom and gloom, of course; there's a playful reading of
"Winter Wonderland,"
for instance. But this is still an album to be put on in the shank of the evening when the
festivities have subsided, not at the height of the celebrations. [
was re-released in 2006 with a slightly different track list.] ~ William Ruhlmann