I must admit to finding the concept of this album being somewhat incongruous. I mean, Christmas is a Christian tradition not Jewish. But, amazingly enough many very famous Christmas standards were indeed written by Jewish composers. Recording this album has long been the a desire of Jake Ehrenreich who not only is a vocalist, musician, author, actor and playwright (he is currently featured in the film ‘The Last Laugh’ alongside Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner) but is a Brooklyn born child of Holocaust survivors. Here he has joined forces with Roger Kellaway and his trio. Kellaway is a Grammy Award winner and Academy Award nominated pianist, composer, who has recorded more than two hundred and fifty albums and has worked with everyone from Duke Ellington to Elvis, and Barbra Streisand to Quincy Jones and Yo-Yo Ma.
With credentials like these, it is no surprise that the album is a cool jazz delight. Ehrenreich has a vocal style not dissimilar to Tony Bennett, while Kellaway has an incredibly delicate and deft touch on piano while Bruce Forman (guitars), Dan Lutz (bass) and Kevin Winard (percussion) know exactly when and how to play, and when to leave well alone. Interesintly the booklet details not only the composers of the songs, but their real names as well. I had no idea that Irving Berlin was actually Israel Ivador Beilin, so there you go! With only song later than the mid Sixties, all of these numbers are classics from “Winter Wonderland” through “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” and “White Christmas”, and if anyone wants to hear some laid back swing, cool jazz versions then this is what you need.
Rating:8/10
