Reviewed by Andrew Rolfe

"Little Drummer Boy", "We Three Kings", "O Come All Ye Faithful" are not what they first were all those years ago when the writers put quill to parchment and our artist Mel Holder was only a thought in the mind of an omniscient God. He (Mel, not God) provides a dazzling performance of an obvious talent and passion for playing various saxophone-related instruments. It is mainly a soprano sax that features as the lead "voice" on this pretty much instrument-only album, with human vocal chords being very much relegated to a backing track. Songs more often than not feature Mel going off on one of his flamboyant solos. The CD cover has a picture of him poised mid-flow. One can imagine his fingers darting around all over the place as his body grooves in tune to his...er...tune. Having said that, the CD also contains a music video (AVI file viewable on any computer) so imagination isn't that necessary. The short filmlet features Mel on his way to the recording of "We Three Kings". He does the best version of this song I have ever heard. It is utterly mellow and as cool as carols get, resonating that Christmas mood of warm log fires and the smells of some great food. Scenes flick between a subway train journey, recording sessions and performing near a river by twilight. I think those are New York City skyscrapers in the background - geography never was my strongest subject - although the sweatshirts in the shop window with the NYC logos are a bit of a give away. It's a nice feature to see Mel and he comes across as being a pleasant chap who loves to play. Not content with soprano sax alone, Mel weaves his musical tapestry courtesy of the tenor and alto sax (but mainly he stays with the soprano 'phone), keyboards and flute. He even dabbles on the drum machine. "Oh Come Oh Ye Faithful" features potentially the most annoying Christmas carol drum loop ever. I am glad to say that Mel didn't programme the machine for the track and am also pleased to announce it has the shortest run time. But it is parenthesised by two fabulous, grooved-up numbers: "Christmas In A De Island" (a Caribbean-feel medley of "Hark The Herald", "The First Noel" and "Joy To The World") and "A Gift So Special", a soprano-sax/husky-female-voiced gem of a number. If you like jazz-sax compositions, which, although they are carols, are of that all-year-round easy-listening style, then grab a CD. If not, sack the sax and go visit the music section at Ebay.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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