Received Wisdom on
“A NEW CENTURY CHRISTMAS”

The aural equivalent of spiked eggnog, this album mixes festivity and funk; Lenny Pickett’s hilarious klezmer-style “God Rest Ye Merry Gentle Mensch” is alone worth the price of admission.
—Chicago Tribune, December 11, 2000

The New Century Saxophone Quartet has avoided gimmicks in this remarkable reinvention of carols that is the freshest Christmas CD I’ve heard in years. … The result are Christmas carols that come alive, rescued from the bin of repetition and jaded familiarity. … Throughout, the quartet performs sensitively, always keeping the carols — and their spirit — at the forefront.
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 1, 2000

An unusual take on familiar Christmas songs. … This release will particularly appeal to saxophone fans as well as anyone looking for holiday music with a little different bent.
—Denver Post, November 26, 2000

Need to get down with your funky seasonal self? Then check out Tower of Power saxman Lenny Pickett’s Latin percussion ornamented arrangement of the traditional “Carol of the Bells” (recast as “Funkin’ With the Bells”). The superbly-played 19-track CD compiles arrangements from a broad swath of modern and historic composers.
—Tucson Citizen, December 14, 2000

The New Century Saxophone Quartet had a novel idea for its “New Century Christmas’’ CD: Have several American composers offer their arrangements of Christmas music for recording. The result is awe-inspiring. The selections range from the sacred to the irreverent.
—The Virginian-Pilot, December 18, 2000

The New Century Saxophone Quartet must have been in a joyful — and creative — holiday mood. How else to explain A New Century Christmas, which contains one dynamite arrangement after another.
—Winston-Salem Journal, December 3, 2000