David Benoit has been a family favorite of ours for years.  A contemporary jazz pianist, he is unfortunately lumped into the $mooth Jazz category, yet has true jazz chops and can play circles around many of the pretenders out there today.  Very much influenced by pianist Bill Evans, Benoit’s style is melodic, yet still ear friendly even if the listener is not a jazz fanatic.  With that in mind, his two Christmas CDs have been a constant holiday treat over the years.   His track on the GRP Christmas Collection, “Carol Of The Bells,” is one of my favorites on that disc, so it was nice to discover he had a pre-GRP album, Christmastime, from 1983 that featured an earlier (but very similar) recording of this song, and eight others, which is a nice, cozy little jazz quartet date that goes down easy like a single-malt Scotch, fireside.  This disc is a bit hard to find, as it has been out of print for awhile…but is a must-have for Benoit fans.

In 1996 Benoit released a new recording, Remembering Christmas, which is just as ear-friendly and easygoing, yet is a bit more reflective in tone.  The tunes “Skating” and “Christmas Time Is Here” hail from the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack, not exactly a stretch since Benoit has been providing music for Peanuts specials for many years now (in the wake of Vince Guaraldi’s passing).  Benoit is joined by a handful of guest artists on this disc, including Earl Klugh on “Skating,” Michael Franks on “Christmas Time Is Here,” and in a piano duo performance, the great Dave Brubeck on “Hark, The Herald Angels Sing.”

Finally, in the role of producer and musical director, Benoit assembled a recording for Peak Records entitled 40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas.  This album features Benoit’s piano in more of a support role on all but three tracks, one track being “Red Baron” by The Rippingtons, and the other two featuring Benoit as the lead artist (and orchestra conductor on “Christmas Is Coming”).   The remaining tracks feature a variety of well-known names such as Vanessa Williams, Dave Koz, Brian McKnight, Rick Braun, Gerald Albright, Chaka Khan and Wayman Tisdale, among others.  This is a nice updating of Guaraldi’s classic holiday album.