There’s a smile in Sullivan Dabney’s voice and the swing of jazz in the combo’s attitude on the opener “Winter Wonderland.” It sets the tone of this pleasant, unpretentious album that touches on the light-hearted side of Christmas with songs like “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” and the like. Considering the New Orleans origins of the band that includes Dabney on vocals and drums, Joseph Saulsbury on saxophone, pianist Raymond “Ray Jay” Jones on piano and Herbert Wing on bass, it’s rather amusing how many tunes deal with snow. While the band’s approach to these classics is often predictable and derivative, the album holds some nice moments particularly when the musicians stretch a bit during solos. The “shave and a hair cut” ending on “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer,” however, doesn’t help the cause. The warmth and welcoming of Dabney’s voice assists in overriding his occasional wobbles and faulty lyrics. In New Orleans, jazz and rhythm and blues are close kin as reflected in Dabney’s vocal style and choice of material that includes the Charles Brown classic, “Merry Christmas Baby.” Dabney and his (perhaps oddly named) Muzik Jazz Band offer their good spirits on Swinging in Christmas. And hey, check out the great suit Dabney dons for the album’s cover shot.