Make your list and check it twice! This holiday concert is more than just nice!! A Peter White Christmas with Mindi Abair and Vincent Ingala is coming to town. Contemporary jazz lovers eagerly await this annual fun filled concert, which has packed fans into halls and arenas coast-to-coast year after year.
Peter White is an extraordinary and fluent acoustic guitarist whose skills are world-renowned. Revered saxophonist Mindi Abair returns again with her dynamic vigor ready to captivate audiences far & wide. Vincent Ingala is no stranger to contemporary jazz audiences—his charisma, energy, and musicianship will put a smile on anyone’s face.
Peter recalls, “My earliest memories of Christmas were probably not much different from many other people: snowflakes, tinsel, Santa Claus, reindeer, and the opening of presents surrounded by family. As a child, my father taught me to play Christmas music on my first instrument, the recorder, and my love for Christmas music has endured throughout the years. I hope this tour will be an opportunity for many Smooth Jazz fans to enjoy their favorite Christmas songs in a family setting. You know, I might even bring my recorder!” Peter White’s classic acoustic guitar style can be enjoyed through an ever-growing and best-selling catalog, including his latest release “Music for Starlux Airlines” (2019).
“Growing up, my family would get together for Christmas every year” Mindi reminisces. “My grandmother would cook oyster stuffing and rhubarb pie, and we’d all play and sing together. I still make a rhubarb pie every year in her honor. My grandmother gave me great advice early on, ‘If you play the piano you can be the life of any party!’ She was an opera singer and would sit and play piano and sing Christmas songs. My father would take over and play more rock/blues/jazz versions of Christmas songs and we’d all sing. And of course I’d pull out my sax and play along with my father on piano. What an amazing way to grow up, with music surrounding me, and weaving into my life so seamlessly from a young age.” Mindi’s latest release “Forever” (2022) on Pretty Good For A Girl Records is a 10-song album of new music and is her first since 2014’s GRAMMY nominated Wild Heart. It features the single “Alive.” This new music marks the return of Abair to her roots in Contemporary Jazz.
Vincent Ingala “I can vividly remember not being able to fall asleep waiting for Santa Claus to arrive on Christmas Eve. Somehow though, he always managed to get the job done while I was sleeping, and before I could catch him! I remember feeling extra special that Santa would place all of the gifts around the fireplace like a display, as opposed to them being wrapped under the Christmas tree. I would sneak downstairs multiple times with my flashlight to get a sneak peek before the sun would rise on Christmas morning! Memories such as these I will always continue to hold in my heart, and they are what makes Christmas a very magical time of the year.” Vincent’s latest release is “Fire & Desire” (2021) on Shanachie Records.
Presented by Count Basie Center for the Arts
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