Brian Sumner's Christmas is not the typical sort of holiday music that I look forward to hearing each year as Christmas approaches. It's a collection of 20 tracks (titled simply as a countdown, from 20 to 1) that are, simply, a series of Sumner's jazzy electric guitar improvisations on the theme, loosely speaking, of Christmas.

Christmas, according to the press materials that accompanied it, "an album of freely improvised guitar that, rather then shed new light on the old standards, sets out to take the listener on a journey through and around the idea of Christmas, Family, Love, Stress, Religion, Family History and the like. Within the context of his own mind, Sumner puts himself in the family room, at the dinner table, near the front door waiting for guests to arrive, in fights, away from home and in a myriad of other situations, and then freely improvises to the thoughts and feelings that are invoked."

OK. Well, there's no denying Sumner's talent. He artfully explores the boundaries of jazz guitar but, let's be honest, does he evoke a feeling of Christmas in the listener? That's the big question.

According to the press materials, Sumner has released "seven critically acclaimed solo-improvised guitar records over the past two years" and is "one of the most listened to free improvisors in the world." He has received training in classical, contemporary and jazz guitar, and has recorded and toured with The Sumner Brothers, an "art-grunge" band.

While listening to the recording, I occasionally thought I detected a faint whiff of some familiar Christmas melody, but they came rarely and passed so quickly that I was never quite sure I wasn't imagining them.

The tracks are short -- I don't think any one track exceeded 2 minutes in length -- and blend together quite seamlessly. Nothing jars the listener out of the relaxed, comfortable setting that Sumner creates.

But, while the album might be nice for relaxing by the Christmas tree with a book and some solitude, it doesn't elicit any feelings of Christmas ... in this listener, at least. I can't imagine this providing a jolly backdrop for a Christmas party, or any festive gathering for that matter. The music would get lost in the background, and it wouldn't engender any holiday spirit. I can admire the artistry, but I can't imagine listening to this album again, at Christmas or any other time.