The old adage, you can judge a book by its cover, certainly applies to this album. It would be natural to expect trumpeter Leroy Jones to put a jazz spin on the holidays, syncopating standard Yuletide fare with his combo.

Instead, the New Orleans horn man stands alone, or more accurately by utilizing over-dubs harmonizes with himself, performing carols like “Joy to the World” and “O Come All Ye Faithful” in a classic manner. Jones’ brilliant tone announces his aim as the disc opens with “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” The simplicity of the format, unadorned approach to the material—there’s no improvisation going on here—and beauty and range of his trumpet offer a sense of purity that is undoubtedly intentional.

Only two tunes receive further decoration as Jones appropriately provides drums on “The Little Drummer Boy” and bells on “A Holly Jolly Christmas.” A talented composer, Jones penned the title cut, “Wonderful Christmas,” which rests confidently among the devotional holiday standards. Several less familiar tunes include the haunting melody of “Sylvian Joululaulu (Sylvia’s Christmas Song)” and the almost minuet of “Glad Christmas Bells.” Most of the cuts on the disc come in well under the two-minute mark—the longest selection is only 2:22 minutes. Despite Jones’ exemplary horn arrangements, the close cropping of the songs tends to lead to predictability.

Some hints of what could have been if Jones chose to stretch out can be detected in his beautiful introduction at the disc’s onset.