What does a Christmas jazz trio play?

Three books at once. The Vince Guaraldi record everybody knows from the Charlie Brown special, the standards that are Christmas songs, White Christmas, The Christmas Song, Let It Snow, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and the standards that aren't, so a three-hour dinner doesn't hear the same twelve carols four times. The balance is yours to set: all season, half, or a Christmas set placed where the evening wants it.

Is a Christmas jazz trio too quiet for a holiday party?

For the dinner half, quiet is the job. The trio plays drinks and dinner at 65 to 72 dBA at the nearest table, a level the table talks across, with the drums played with brushes. Once the floor opens, the quartet with a singer plays the swing side of the book for an hour, or the DJ carries the late end through the same sound system on the same contract.

Can we book just a solo guitarist or a duo for a smaller December dinner?

Yes. One jazz guitarist plays the same book for a client dinner or a party at home, and the duo, upright bass and guitar, plays a cocktail hour or a longer dinner. The trio is the size for a company party in a ballroom, and the quartet adds a horn or a voice for the floor.

How far ahead does a December date need to be booked?

Corporate holiday parties tend to get decided between August and October for November and December dates, and the peak Saturdays in December go first. Tell us the date and the venue, and we'll check the booking calendar and come back with a recommendation and a price for that night.

Does the Christmas jazz trio play New Year's Eve?

Yes, and New Year's Eve is its own case everywhere: it books earliest and the set turns from carols to the standards and the swing book as the night runs toward midnight. Send the date early.

Christmas jazz trio

A Christmas jazz trio for holiday parties and December dinners.

The Charlie Brown record, the standards that are Christmas songs, and the standards that aren’t, played on guitar, upright bass and drums with brushes at a volume the table talks across. It’s the sound of a December evening that feels like the season without playing the same twelve carols on a loop.

Think the dinner half of a company holiday party, a client dinner in the second week of December, a member evening at a club, or a party at home with a tree in the corner. It books for a cocktail hour, for drinks and dinner, or for the whole evening with a quartet or the DJ carrying the floor afterward, and the holiday party page carries the dates of the season.

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The book

Three books, and the balance is yours.

A December dinner runs three hours, and twelve carols don’t. The trio draws on three books and moves between them through the evening.

The Guaraldi record: Christmas Time Is Here, Skating, Linus and Lucy, O Tannenbaum the way the trio played it. It’s the one Christmas record almost everybody in a ballroom grew up on, and it was written for a piano trio at conversation volume, which is why it sits so well under dinner.
The standards that are Christmas songs: White Christmas, The Christmas Song, Let It Snow, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Winter Wonderland, I’ll Be Home for Christmas. Written by the same songwriters as the rest of the standards book, and played the same way.
The standards that aren’t: Autumn Leaves, All of Me, The Girl from Ipanema and the rest of the book the trio plays in any month, threaded through the season’s songs so the evening feels like December without being a medley of it. The whole list is on the repertoire page.

Tell us how much season you want in it. Some parties want carols wall to wall, some want one Christmas set placed after dinner, and most want the balance the trio reads off the crowd. A set is built around the flow of your evening, and the first learned song is included in every booking.

Configurations

One guitar at a client dinner, a quartet on the floor.

Solo: One jazz guitarist, the Christmas book at a dinner for twenty or a party at home. The smallest booking here, in 6 by 4 feet on one circuit.
Duo: Upright bass and guitar, for a cocktail hour or a longer dinner where the conversation is the point. It sets up in an 8 by 6 foot corner and never drifts louder than the table.
Trio: The duo plus drums played with brushes, for a company party in a ballroom: 12 by 8 feet, one dedicated circuit, about an hour to load in. Changes Jazz Trio plays this size under its own three names.
Quartet, and the floor: The trio plus a singer or a horn for the hour after dinner, when the swing side of the book opens a floor. When the night should run past that, the DJ takes the same sound system on the same contract.

Footprints and power by size are on the technical page. The same trio in any other month is the jazz duo and trio, and the corporate evening slot by slot is on the corporate jazz band page.

Christmas jazz trio questions

The dates of the season and the peak Saturdays are on the holiday party page. The operational questions are on the full question list.

What does a Christmas jazz trio play?: Three books at once. The Vince Guaraldi record everybody knows from the Charlie Brown special, the standards that are Christmas songs, White Christmas, The Christmas Song, Let It Snow, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and the standards that aren't, so a three-hour dinner doesn't hear the same twelve carols four times. The balance is yours to set: all season, half, or a Christmas set placed where the evening wants it.
Is a Christmas jazz trio too quiet for a holiday party?: For the dinner half, quiet is the job. The trio plays drinks and dinner at 65 to 72 dBA at the nearest table, a level the table talks across, with the drums played with brushes. Once the floor opens, the quartet with a singer plays the swing side of the book for an hour, or the DJ carries the late end through the same sound system on the same contract.
Can we book just a solo guitarist or a duo for a smaller December dinner?: Yes. One jazz guitarist plays the same book for a client dinner or a party at home, and the duo, upright bass and guitar, plays a cocktail hour or a longer dinner. The trio is the size for a company party in a ballroom, and the quartet adds a horn or a voice for the floor.
How far ahead does a December date need to be booked?: Corporate holiday parties tend to get decided between August and October for November and December dates, and the peak Saturdays in December go first. Tell us the date and the venue, and we'll check the booking calendar and come back with a recommendation and a price for that night.
Does the Christmas jazz trio play New Year's Eve?: Yes, and New Year's Eve is its own case everywhere: it books earliest and the set turns from carols to the standards and the swing book as the night runs toward midnight. Send the date early.

Send us the December date and the venue, and we'll bring the season at the right volume.

Live music for your event, from a solo musician to a full band, with sound support that’s the right size for the venue and a personal contact for the night.

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Send us the date and the venue, and we’ll come back with a recommendation and a price for your night. What live music costs in this market is on the pricing page.