Rich Willey: Boptism Christmas

With seasonal jazz albums in rather short supply this year, it is a pleasure to welcome Boptism Christmas, a series of mostly well- known holiday tunes ably performed by multi-instrumentalist Rich Willey and his impressive North Carolina-based octet-plus-one.

The "plus one" applies to Tracks 5 and 6, on which Russ Wilson joins the ensemble to sing ("Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer") or play drums ("Little Drummer Boyz"). Wilson sings respectably on a jazzed-up version of "Rudolph," a mega-hit for cowboy star Gene Autry in 1949 (Columbia). (Autry thought it must be a joke when he was asked to record it.) With an overdubbed trumpet section and bassist Zack Page leading the way, "Drummer Boyz" has a definite R&B feeling, amplified by Wilson's marvelous timekeeping and a brisk trumpet solo by Willey.

Speaking of drumming, Justin Watt leads the way into the lively opener, in which the ensemble deftly reassembles "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" and "We Three Kings" before moving on to the Irving Berlin holiday classic, "White Christmas," and the more recent seasonal favorite, Jay Livingston and Ray Evans' "Silver Bells," from the 1951 film The Lemon Drop Kid, which starred Bob Hope. "White Christmas," usually performed as a ballad, is played here as a pleasant fox trot, with Willey once again soloing with warmth and sensitivity (as do alto Dylan Hannan, trombonist Bill Reichenbach—the only familiar name in the group's starting lineup—and pianist Alex Taub). Taub is showcased on another charming ballad, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," which was introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis.. Hannan, Reichenbach, Willey and tenor Ashley Pritchard append pleasing solos.

"The Christmas Song," written in 1945 by Bob Wells and Mel Torme, is another delight, thanks to a buoyant tempo, tight work by the ensemble and delightful solos by Pritchard, Willey and guitarist Andy Page. The group is as impressive as ever on a blues-centered reading of "What Child Is This?" (enriched by Willey's muted trumpet exchanges with Pritchard and Taub's eloquent solo), as it is on the boppish closer, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" (charismatic solos courtesy of Willey, Pritchard, Taub and bassist Page). At a relatively lean time for holiday-centered jazz, Boptism Christmas is not only a delightful addition to the catalog, it is far better than what one might envision from a largely unknown and unheralded ensemble of musicians from the mountains of western North Carolina.

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