The Charlie Brown record and the standards
A Christmas jazz trio for holiday parties and December dinners.
Christmas Time Is Here on guitar, upright bass and brushed drums, while the coats come off and the first glasses of wine go around. The Christmas jazz trio plays the Charlie Brown record, the standards that are Christmas songs and the standards that aren’t, at a volume the table talks across, so a long dinner sounds like December from the first course to dessert.
It books for the dinner half of a company holiday party, a client dinner in the second week of December, a member evening at a club, and a party at home with a tree in the corner.
Trusted and booked by
The book
Three books, and the balance is yours.
A December dinner runs for hours, longer than the carols last, so 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 Guaraldi’s 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. They were written by the same songwriters as the rest of the standards book, and the trio plays them the same way.
- The standards that aren’t
- Autumn Leaves, All of Me, The Girl from Ipanema and the rest of the songs 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.
Sizes
One guitar at a client dinner, a quartet on the floor.
- Solo
- One jazz guitarist playing the Christmas book at a dinner for twenty or a party at home. It’s the smallest booking here.
- Duo
- Upright bass and guitar, for a cocktail hour or a longer dinner where the conversation is the point. It fits in a corner and stays under the table talk.
- Trio
- The duo plus drums played with brushes, for a company party in a ballroom. Changes Jazz Trio plays this size under its own three names.
- Quartet, and the floor
- The trio plus a singer or a horn, for a party that wants the swing side of the song list on a dance floor. When the night should run past that, the DJ takes the same sound system on the same contract.
The same trio in any other month is the jazz duo and trio, and a company evening part by part is on the corporate jazz band page.
Christmas jazz trio questions
Stage sizes and power for each size are on the technical page, and the questions every booking shares are on the full question list.
- Is a Christmas jazz trio too quiet for a holiday party?
- For the dinner half, quiet is the job. With the drums played with brushes, the trio sits at the level of the conversation, so people at one table hear each other and still hear Linus and Lucy. Once the floor opens, the quartet with a singer plays the swing side of the song list, or the DJ carries the rest of the night through the same sound system on the same contract.
- How much space does it need?
- One guitarist sets up in about 6 by 4 feet on one circuit, and the duo in a corner of about 8 by 6 feet. The trio takes about 12 by 8 feet on one dedicated circuit and needs about an hour to set up. Sound support that's the right size for the venue comes with every size.
- How far ahead does a December date need to be booked?
- Whenever you're ready. 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. If your party is coming up sooner, no worries. We can often make something great work.
- Does the Christmas jazz trio play New Year's Eve?
- Yes. New Year's Eve gets booked earliest everywhere, and the set turns from carols to the standards and the swing book as the night goes on. Send the date early.
- Can we ask for a particular song?
- Yes. Let us know the song when you book and we can usually learn it. You set the balance too: carols all night, one Christmas set, or the mix the trio reads off the crowd.
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.