David Ian

Vintage Christmas
Prescott Records

Rock guitarist Dave Ghazarian of the group Superchick has produced a very satisfying Christmas album in the traditional jazz trio format.

Released under the abbreviated name David Ian, the new record features vocals by Acacia and Andre Miguel Mayo. Ian’s primary instrument here is piano — he does break out jazz guitar a few times — and if you didn’t know that he began studying jazz piano at the age of 5, you might be surprised by the depth of his technique and the emotion in his interpretation.

We don’t expect rock guitarists who leap from their amplifiers to be any good at this kind of New York swing, but don’t be fooled. This is traditional jazz that holds its own with some of the masters.

Almost everything here is traditional Christmas staple. The only original song, “Christmas Time With You,” appears twice, first as a solo by Mayo, then as a contra-point duet with Mayo and Acacia. That’s not a complaint.

In this time of overprocessed, frenzied arrangements, simple, perfectly crafted jazz renditions are just the thing to remind us of the perfectly simple plan of salvation put into place 2,000 years ago.