It's Christmas Again

“A sidebar project from Max Roach, this CD offers two extended pieces on the virtues and vagaries of the Christmas season. The title track is alternately hopeful and then irreverent, with the quartet moving in and out of the poetry Roach recites. "Christina" is a bit more vague about the holiday, and more focused on the family aspect, the role of children, and in this case one in particular. This side features occasional solos from alto saxophonist Lee Konitz and clarinetist Tony Scott. It's Christmas Again is a project that for many did not work, but no matter how you slice it, an intriguing aside to Roach's discography. As he often mixed words with jazz, this is less ambitious than previous works, but could be looked upon an more than a little ambiguous, and certainly a cynical view of a time of the year that should be joyous, but for many is difficult.”   (source: AllMusic.com, S. Yanow)

"...A measure perhaps of the extent to which Roach was re-examining his procedures during this fertile and prolific period."   (source: The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD)