Here’s a novel approach to Christmas music cooked up by the award-winning New Century Saxophone Quartet. Part chamber music holiday fest, part playful holiday pageantry, A New Century Christmas embraces klezmer, Latin, pop, classical, and improvisational music for an inventive, 19-song overview of Christmas from a handful of composers. Saxophonist Benjamin Boone turns “We Three Kings” into “We Four Kings”; Lenny Pickett, a notable veteran of the rock music world, illustrates with “Funkin’ with the Bells” just how much fun one can have with musty old standards; and symphonic master David Ott recasts “O Little Town of Bethlehem” for sax. Not just for serious music lovers, this disc is fun and easy to recommend. –Martin Keller