JAZZ

Saturday, December 4, 2010 7:30PM

Saturday, December 4, 2010 10:00PM

Peter White leads an all star lineup featuring Rick Braun and Mindi Abair playing dazzling arrangements of your favorite holiday songs at B.B. Kings Blues Club & Grill. It will be a treat for the holiday season!

Peter White

Over the past 16 years, as Peter White has kept thousands of smooth jazz fans worldwide enthralled by his spirited melodies, soulful grooves and inviting, instantly recognizable acoustic guitar tone, he’s always had a blast finding unique ways to bring his modern sensibilities to cherished pop classics. Thanks to the smooth jazz format’s affinity these days for instrumental cover songs, two of the incredible 13 #1 Radio & Records airplay hits he’s enjoyed over the years, “The Closer I Get To You” and “Walk On By” (from 1994’s Reflections), have become enduring staples of the format.

But pop music fans were listening to White’s classic acoustic guitar style even before the advent of the New Adult Contemporary and Smooth Jazz formats, most notably via his collaborations with British folk/pop singer Al Stewart. The Stewart-White partnership, which culminated with the dual live recording Rhymes in Rooms in the mid-90s, spanned over 20 years. White played on Stewart’s landmark Year of the Cat album, co-wrote and performed on two of Stewart’s biggest hits, “Time Passages” and “Midnight Rocks,” and served as the Scottish singer’s bandleader while playing guitar, Hammond Organ and piano. He later co-produced Stewart’s Famous Last Words album.

White’s other major longtime association was with Basia, an early vocal star in the genre that later became known as smooth jazz. In 1984, brother Danny White and a then unknown Basia formed the band Matt Bianco; Peter performed on the group’s album Who’s Side Are You On as well as on the hit single “Half a Minute.” When Basia and Danny left Matt Bianco to focus on her solo career, Peter White’s guitar and accordian became an integral flavor in her popular sound. He played on her three bestselling albums Time and Tide, London Warsaw New York and The Sweetest Illusion, and appeared on her live performance release Basia on Broadway. Basia sang on “Just Another Day,” which became a popular airplay hit from Caravan of
Dreams.