DAVID BENOIT CHRISTMAS TRIBUTE TO CHARLIE BROWN (Wed, 12/3/25)

For four decades, the GRAMMY®-nominated pianist/composer/ arranger David Benoit has reigned supreme as one the founding fathers of contemporary jazz. When he was coming up, Benoit worked with singers Patti Austin, Connie Stevens, Ann-Margaret, and Lainie Kazan as her musical director/conductor. In 1976, Benoit released albums on the AVI label from 1977 to 1984. He later released several chart-topping recordings for GRP, including Freedom at Midnight (1987), Waiting for Spring (1989) and Shadows (1991), which both topped Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Charts at #5, #1, and #2, respectively. His other noteworthy recordings include Letter to Evan (1992), his tribute to another piano influence, Bill Evans, and Here’s to You, Charlie Brown: Fifty Great Years (2000). Benoit also recorded with Russ Freeman on their album The Benoit/Freeman Project (1994), and on their follow-up collaboration, 2 (2004), which was released on Peak Records. His other recordings for the label include American Landscape (1997) and Orchestral Stories (2005), which featured his first piano concerto, “The Centaur and the Sphinx,” and a symphonic work, “Kobe”.

He has received three GRAMMY® nominations in the categories of Best Contemporary Jazz Performance for “Every Step of the Way” (1989), Best Large Ensemble Performance for GRP All-Star Big Band (1996), and Best Instrumental Composition for “Dad’s Room,” the latter from the album Professional Dreamer (2000) and in 2010, David Benoit received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Smooth Jazz Awards. He has also worked with an impressive potpourri of musicians including the Rippingtons,

Emily Remler, the late Alphonse Mouzon, Dave Koz, Faith Hill, David Sanborn, CeCe Winans, Keiko Matsui, Hiroshima, and Brian McKnight.

David’s career as a contemporary jazz pianist began in 1977 and includes 40 solo recordings over the past 40 years. Many of these, including his 1987 GRP Records debut “Freedom at Midnight” and its Grammy nominated 1988 follow-up “Every Step Of The Way”, are considered influential classics in the genre, which became known as “Smooth Jazz.” Among his other Grammy nominations are those for Best Instrumental Composition (for “Dad’s Room” and 1999’s Professional Dreamer), Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance (GRP All-Star Big Band) and voted “Keyboardist of the Year” in 2000 and 2001 by the Oasis Smooth Jazz Awards, and on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Chart. Currently, David is topping the jazz charts with guitarist Marc Antoine with their CD recording, “So Nice” and hit single “Caminando.”

Benoit has also been a popular film and television composer. His most notable film scores are The Stars Fell on Henrietta, produced by Clint Eastwood and starring Robert Duvall; and The Christmas Tree, produced by Sally Field, voted Best Score of 1996 by Film Score Magazine; His association with Charles Schulz and the famed Peanuts realm led to over 10 years composing music for

the Peanuts TV special on CBS. In addition, he has written themes for the long running soap opera

All My Children (ABC) and Sisters (NBC) and scored the “Movies of the Week” Final Descent (with the late Robert Urich) and Cadillac Jack (Starring Clint Black). In collaboration with lyricist Mark Winkler, David completed his first Broadway musical, Something’s Got To Give about the life and times of Marilyn Monroe.