Benoit’s relationship with Charlie Brown goes all the way back to childhood, too. A devoted reader of Charles M. Schulz’s comic strip, he was captivated by the jazz soundtrack when A Charlie Brown Christmas debuted in 1965. Benoit recalled that hearing Guaraldi’s piano trio was “the defining moment when I decided that I wanted to play like Vince Guaraldi.” His own recording of “Linus and Lucy” on the 1985 album This Side Up helped introduce Guaraldi’s music to a new generation of contemporary jazz listeners. It also opened the door to a lasting relationship with Schulz and Lee Mendelson, the longtime producer of the Peanuts television specials. Benoit subsequently composed music for numerous Peanuts television productions between 1989 and 2006 and contributed to the 2015 film The Peanuts Movie. Imagine growing up loving Charlie Brown and Vince Guaraldi’s music, then getting the opportunity to become part of that musical legacy yourself!

Christmas music has been a recurring theme throughout Benoit’s recording career. His first holiday album, Christmastime, appeared in 1983, followed by Remembering Christmas in 1996, 40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas in 2005, Believe with vocalist Jane Monheit in 2015, and It’s a David Benoit Christmas! in 2020. Interestingly, Benoit’s early recording of “Christmas Time Is Here” helped bring him to Mendelson’s attention in the first place. Looking back on that connection, Benoit has said, “that song is very important to me.”

The new 14-track recording, originally commissioned by the Mendelson family, gives Benoit an opportunity to showcase another side of his considerable musical talents. Rather than concentrating on his piano performances, he steps onto the conductor’s podium to bring new orchestral dimensions to familiar favorites including “Christmas Is Coming,” “Skating,” “O Tannenbaum,” “Christmas Time Is Here,” and, of course, “Linus and Lucy.” The collection also ventures beyond Christmas with music from It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, along with “Just Like Me,” a Benoit original co-written with Mendelson. Following a successful kidney transplant in 2023, Benoit has returned to music with renewed energy, making this recording an especially meaningful chapter in his career. Yet despite his decades of contributions to the Peanuts musical legacy, Benoit remains quick to give credit where it belongs: “Of course, the real focus is on Vince Guaraldi. He’s the one.” I couldn’t agree more. What Guaraldi created for a little animated Christmas special in 1965 became something far greater than anyone could have imagined. And thanks to musicians like David Benoit, that music continues to find new audiences and new life.

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The GRP label was really rolling after MCA artists were moved to the label. That brought over Spyro Gyra (with the only Spyro Gyra release that said “featuring Jay Beckenstein”), Acoustic Alchemy, and Michael Brecker. I count eight GRP recordings in this top 20.

Of note, that Bob James recording, Grand Piano Canyon, was the birth of Fourplay with James, Lee Ritenour, Harvey Mason, and Nathan East on two tracks.

Also worth noting in the October 13 issue: George Benson debuted at #8 on Billboard’s Jazz Albums chart with Big Boss Band, his collaboration with the Count Basie Orchestra.

Top Contemporary Jazz Albums

Week of October 13, 1990

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1. David Benoit and Russ Freeman, The Benoit/Freeman Project
2. Paul Hardcastle, Hardcastle
3. Dave Weckl, Hard-Wired
4. The Solsonics, Jazz in the Present Tense
5. Mark Johnson, Mark Johnson
6. Incognito, Positivity
7. Bob James, Restless
8. John Scofield and Pat Metheny, I Can See Your House From Here 
9. United Future Organization, United Future Organization
10. Mark Portmann, Driving Beverly Hills

Listen below to my selected tracks from this chart! The Mark Johnson recording doesn’t appear available on streaming so it’s not on the playlist but you can still hear Mark Johnson music from the JVC years!

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