A Jolly Guaraldi Holiday

As the first decade of the 21st century drew to a close, several bands and performance entities throughout the country began to offer what has grown into something of a holiday habit: concerts of music from Guaraldi's score for A Charlie Brown Christmas. California's Pasadena Jazz Institute was one of the first, with 2008's presentation of It's a Charlie Brown Christmas: The Music of Vince Guaraldi; the concert featured the David Arnay Jazz Trio. Starting in 2009, a New York theater company — Road Less Traveled Productions — adapted the entire TV special for the stage, with Guaraldi's music performed by the Julie Arlotta Jazz Trio.

Much more visibly, jazz pianist and Concord recording artist David Benoit has been touring his own ambitious Charlie Brown Christmas show for several years; the 2011 tour kicked off in late November at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe in Incline Village, Nevada, and later touched down at venues in California, New York, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Washington, Georgia and Washington, D.C. We caught last year's performance in Livermore, California, and I can report that it's a great show. It's also tremendously sweet, since Benoit and his team work with a children's choir that is local to each venue.

Benoit is part of the Dave Koz and Friends Christmas show this year, and therefore won't be touring his own production, but keep an eye out for 2013.

Meanwhile, we do have numerous other options for this year. One ambitious tour is being mounted by jazz pianist Jim Martinez, with whom I've shared a stage twice this past year. He has a great feel for Guaraldi's touch, and also is an engaging performer with plenty of anecdotes to sprinkle throughout a concert. He often appears with vocalist Laura Didier, who delivers a truly soulful reading of "Christmas Time Is Here." Jim's Music from A Charlie Brown Christmas show kicks off November 24 at Southgate, Michigan; additional appearances have been scheduled for venues in North Carolina and California. Check his web site for details.

The biggest gig on his tour is the one belonging to the illustration at the top of this article — December 19, in Berkeley, California — when Jim will be joined by former Guaraldi sidemen Eddie Duran and Dean Reilly. And if you decide to attend, you might bump into me, as well.

The Eric Byrd Trio also has made a cottage industry of Guaraldi's Christmas music, going so far as to cover most of the album in a 2009 release. Byrd's combo has taken its Charlie Brown Christmas Show on the road for several years now, mostly in Maryland. 2012 gigs begin in Salisbury, MD (December 5), and conclude with three shows in Westminster, MD, on December 14-15. One additional bonus performance will take place December 21, at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. Check his website for details.

The Ornaments, a jazz trio based in Nashville, Tennessee, released their cover of Guaraldi's album in late 2011; they delivered a mini-tour that year, and they're doing the same thing this year. They have six dates booked between December 18 and 22, most at The Family Wash, a family-style restaurant in East Nashville. Check their Facebook page for details.

The Cartoon Christmas Trio doesn't concentrate solely on music from A Charlie Brown Christmas; they also pepper their performances with tunes from other animated holiday shows, such as Frosty the Snowman and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I love their album, and they have a busy touring schedule this year, throughout Pennsylvania. Check their website for details.

Other groups also are getting into the act, and I'll cite them below, and add to this list as new information becomes available (so do check back on occasion). Be advised, though, that these are listings, not endorsements. Not having heard any of these other acts, I'm not in a position to judge (as opposed to Jim Martinez and David Benoit, about whom my enthusiasm knows no bounds).

• Charlie Brown Jazz Christmas, with the John Milham Jazz Trio; Friday, November 30, during Canton's Light Festival at the Canton First Baptist Church Family Life Center, in Canton, Mississippi. Details.

• Charlie Brown Jazz Christmas; Saturday, December 1, at the Mississippi Children's Museum in Jackson, Mississippi. Details. [same combo — the John Milham Jazz Trio — as the November 30 show]

• It's a Jazzy Christmas: A Celebration of Vince Guaraldi's Holiday Jazz Music, with the Peanut Gallery Jazz Trio; Sunday, December 2, at the Massry Center for the Arts in Albany, New York. Details.

• Charlie Brown Jazz Christmas; Friday, December 7, at the Laurel Little Theater in Laurel, Mississippi. Details. [same combo — the John Milham Jazz Trio — as the November 30 and December 1 shows]

• Charlie Brown Jazz Christmas; Saturday, December 8, at Murphy High School's Delaney Auditorium, in Mobile, Alabama. Details. [the John Milham Jazz Trio again]

• Charlie Brown Jazz Christmas; Sunday, December 9, at Faulkner State Campus' Giddens Auditorium, in Fairhope, Alabama. Details. [the John Milham Jazz Trio again]

• A Charlie Brown Christmas, with the Heather Pierson Quartet; Sunday, December 9, at the Medallion Opera House in Gorham, New Hampshire. Details.

• A Charlie Brown Christmas, with the Michelle Schumann Trio; Sunday, December 9, at the Austin Chamber Music Center in Austin, Texas. Details.

• A Charlie Brown Christmas, with the Jose Gonzales Trio; Tuesday, December 11, at the Rainier Chapter House in Seattle, Washington. Details.

• A Charlie Brown Christmas, with the Heather Pierson Quartet; Thursday, December 13, at Pitman's Freight Room in Laconia, New Hampshire. Details.

• A Charlie Brown Christmas, with the Heather Pierson Quartet; Friday, December 14, at the Leura Hill Eastman Performing Arts Center in Fryeburg, Maine. Details.

• A Charlie Brown Christmas, with the Heather Pierson Quartet; Saturday, December 15, at The Lily Pad in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Details.

• Jeffrey Butzer & T.T. Mahony Perform Vince Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas; Saturday, December 15, at The Earl, Atlanta, Georgia. Details.

• A Charlie Brown Christmas Extravaganza, with an unidentified band performing while the TV special is shown on a wall; Saturday, December 15, at Back to the Grind, 3575 University Avenue, Riverside, California. Details.

• A Charlie Brown Christmas in Norway (!), with the Heather Pierson Quartet; Sunday, December 16, at the First Universalist Church of Norway, in Maine. Details.

• Jeffrey Butzer & T.T. Mahony Perform Vince Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas; Sunday, December 16, at the Bottletree Cafe in Birmingham, Alabama. Details.

• Sunday Serenades: A Charlie Brown Christmas with jazz saxophonist Karl Stabnau; Sunday, December 16, at the Brighton Memorial Library in Rochester, New York. Details.

• Jeffrey Butzer & T.T. Mahony Perform Vince Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas; Friday, December 21, at the Bottletree Cafe in Birmingham, Alabama. Details.

• A Charlie Brown Christmas and Other Seasonal Music, with the MASK Quartet; Saturday, December 22, at Parlor 88 East, Springfield, Missouri. Details.

• Ring in the Holidays (some Guaraldi content), with the Eric Mintel Quartet; Saturday, December 22, at the Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, Pennsylvania. Details.

That's it for the moment ... but stay tuned!