Smooth Jazz Christmas Overture :What a great concept! Let's bring the artists in one at a time. The whole cd starts off with Christmas bells and Dave's famous tenor on "Let It Snow/Winter Wonderland"....followed by the into of long time friend, guitarist Peter White on "What Child Is This" which gives way to pianist David Benoit on "Angel We Have Heard On High". As he finishes, we hear the muted trumpet of Rick Braun as he begins "Jingle Bells". The quartet is complete when Brenda Russell jazzs up the stage with the whole ensemble playing the uptempo "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"!

Now that the whole ensemble is on stage they play "The Christmas Song". Peter White begins as Dave chimes in, and Brenda sings the words we all know so well. Rick's solo in the middle gives way to Peter once again, and finally to Dave. This has got to be one of my favorite arrangements as the artists play together so well.

O'Tannenbaum/Sleigh Ride Medley has our favorite foursome sharing the spotlight. David and Rick jazz up the arrangement with input from Dave giving the traditional song a Calipso feel. The temps are going up as the group ends on a high note!

"Silent Night" begins with Peter playing the Christmas classic solo on guitar. Rick joins in slowy, followed by Dave as the group crescedos to Brenda's vocals of a longtime favorite. It's a stark contrast to the previous song.

"Beneath The Moonlight Sky" is one of the best songs on the disc, and is the new one written by Dave and David. All of the musicians are slowly weaved into the mix with a "hook" that makes the whole thing very memorable. If there are no words to this one yet, there ought to be!

Stevo Theard begins " Little Drummer Boy"as Rick's muted trumpet begins and is later joined by Peter's guitar. Momentum rises as Dave's sax joins the group. By the time David joins for the solo in the middle, the song is definately clicking! It's a great arrangement by Rick, and will be fun to hear in concert.

David begins "Hark The Herald Angels Sing" by himself while later joined by Dave as a duet. Dave does some of his best improv here while jazzing up this classic. David's play here reminds you of many of his solo discs that we've come to love over the years. The two play well together.

"December Makes Me Feel This Way" is one of the biggest surprises and treats on the whole cd. Kenny Loggins steps in for the vocals, and sounds remarkably like Mr. Koz. This is a heart catcher, and Dave's input of his sax grabs the emotional chord in each of us. Very nice.

While our hearts are all touched by DMMFTW, one of the "fun" songs is thrown out, telling us to smile a little. Brenda pulls off "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus" as if we are taken back in time to when the ISO treated the troops in WWII, and Dave's "big band" sound! Was this one recorded in black and white? Ha! Lot's of fun.....

Next we find Dave and Peter doing a little duet work on "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas". David blends in a little background sound as the whole song takes on a 50's era sound. It sounds like one of the last songs to be played at the high school Christmas Dance. Slow dancing, lights fading....

Brenda sings Irving Berlin's classic "White Christmas"while being joined by Dave's solos, and David's constant backup. If you're at the show, you can't help but join in. ooooh....that's smooth.

"Eight Candles" is another one of my favorites. Peter joins in on the accordion and gives the song a "European" feel. Stevo's snare up's the tempo, and makes this a good one to clap to. Dave's soprano is fine. What? Who's this bass a and guitar? Great to see solos by the Rubberhand Man as Dave starts off low, and goes into that fantastic solos (look at his face here!) where he holds that note forever! It ends up a lotta fun, and ends on a high note.

"Get Here" is a nice addition, and shows the versitility of Brenda's voice. Dave's input on sax gives the song it's emotional edge. (There are hill's and mountians between us, always something to get over....) Great lyrics. Great song.

The disc like the show finishes off with our band of renounds citing "Twas The Night Before Christmas". It's always a fun part of the show. I enjoy listening to each one on their part. They all join in for a resounding finale!

Throughout the disc, I felt like I had traveled back to the show. This is a fun one that hope you all have, and are buying a lot of copies for friends and relatives. Looking forward to "seeing" this one again in Atlanta......

Hope to see you there too..............