A Peter White Christmas featuring Rick Braun and Mindi Abair

For more than four decades, acoustic guitarist Peter White has brought variety to the contemporary jazz scene with his impressive combination of jazz, pop, and classical guitar.  A long-time session musician, Peter White’s smooth musical styling is perfect for the melodies of the holiday season. His intelligent and inspired arrangements of Christmas classics offer a refreshing new take on time-old songs.

 

Born in a small town north of London in 1954, Peter White found himself drawn to instruments as a small child, experimenting with everything from the clarinet to the violin. Peter finally found his calling when he picked up the guitar, inspired by the success of emerging rock groups such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Originally drawn to the electric, an accidental fire destroyed his guitar and Peter’s interests shifted towards the acoustic. Inspired by James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, and Crosby, Stills and Nash, Peter honed his acoustic guitar skills and quickly gained recognition as a highly talented musician, earning his first professional gig at the age of 19. In 1975, he was invited to join folk-rock star Al Stewart’s band as a keyboardist for their tour of England, Scotland, and the United States, a meeting that would lead to an extended professional and personal musical relationship between Stewart and White. Touring with Stewart, Peter White opened for a number of major artists, such as Linda Ronstadt, Billy Joel, and Queen. Peter personally contributed to Al Stewart’s success, working with Stewart in recording the major 1976 hit “Year of the Cat.”

 

Peter White’s success as a session guitarist encouraged the musician to embark on his own solo career, beginning in 1990. His first album, entitled Reveillez-Vous, or Wake Up in French, featured several unused songs written for Al Stewart and became a favorite on a number of contemporary jazz stations. Based on this early success, White signed with Columbia Records to produce his 1996 album, Caravan of Dreams. Now, 13 solo albums later, Peter White has just completed his latest album, Here We Go, marking the musician’s first recording with the celebrated saxophonist David Sanborn. Peter shows no signs of slowing down, touring internationally and participating in a variety of music tours, from “Guitars and Saxes” to Peter’s own “Peter White Christmas Tour.” The latter tour, fueled by the success of White’s holiday albums Songs of the Season and A Peter White Christmas, showcases the musician’s extensive talents in reworking some of the Christmas season’s most treasured classics.