What a blast! You know all of these songs, and you know none of these songs. The Acme Brass is flat-out fun on "X-Mas X-Ing," one of the more innovative holiday CDs to come down the pike. The five horns (trumpets/flugelhorns, French horn, trombone, bass trombone), piano, bass and percussion make some of the most amazing cross-blends of Christmas music available. So what's the story? This instrumental album's greatest strength lies in Tom Kamp's amazing arrangements. Using well-known holiday standards as starting points, Kamp has mixed, blended, and even juxtaposed song fragments and musical styles from other classic standards, creating brand new pieces. So, for example, The Acme Brass opens the 13-song set brilliantly with "Jingle Duke," which features a swingin' "Take the A-Train" melody and "Jingle Bells" floating on top. Duke Ellington definitely would have approved! "X-Mas X-Ing" is just full of delightful surprises. There are 42 songs crammed into about an hour, and you must listen closely to catch the various cross-references and asides. In addition to the excellent opening cut, my favorite tracks here include "The 12 Days of Christmas" done as 12-bar blues in all 12 key signatures, and "Santa Monk," which marries Thelonius Monk's "Blue Monk" with "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town." Anyone who enjoys instrumental jazz, a gifted brass ensemble, and holiday music will get a kick out of X-Mas X-Ing. It's almost like getting four albums for the price of one!

There is nothing better than being surprised by Christmas music. At every turn of the CD, there was a clever combination of jazz standard and Christmas tune- my favorite-Blusette Isabella. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of more CDs to share with my savy musician friends! Thanks for a Christmas CD I can gladly share with my musician collegues and my children!