Mindi Abair’s - I Can’t Wait for Christmas

You’ve seen the saxophonist/vocalist as the featured saxophonist on American Idol, sitting in with Paul Shaffer on The Late Show with David Letterman and The Roots on the Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. You may have seen the Florida native moonlighting on tour with Duran Duran and Aerosmith. The two-time Grammy nominee has consistently topped the Billboard Contemporary and Blues charts, and in 2019, 2020, and 2021, she was nominated by the Blues Music Awards as the Best Instrumentalist: Horns.

If somehow you missed all of that, you’ve surely seen her as the high-stepping, hard-playing saxophonist in A Peter White Christmas. She returns to The Lyric with her own show, I Can’t Wait for Christmas, and brings along some of her friends for a night of Christmas classics and smooth jazz hits.

Abair has taken her love for Christmas to a new level, with her 2024 release, I Can’t Wait for Christmas, a 10-song collection on Pretty Good for a Girl Records of holiday classics that take listeners straight to the heart of the holiday season, blending timeless classics with fresh, soulful originality.

Rebecca Jade will move you. Named Smooth Jazz Network’s “Breakout Artist of the Year” and JazzTrax “Debut Artist of the Year” in 2022, she brings that rare mix of polish and raw emotion. She has toured extensively with Sheila E, shared the stage with Sir Elton John at the Academy Awards, and has been a regular featured artist on Dave Koz & Friends at Sea. She’s performed at Mindi Abair’s Wine & Jazz New Year’s Eve and Wine & Jazz Adventure in Sonoma, so the musical chemistry is already baked in.

Andréa Lisa, the South African-born, New Zealand-raised singer, guitarist, composer, and producer, is a musical powerhouse – think the heart of Alicia Keys with the guitar sensibility of John Mayer. Her collaborations include Jonathan Butler, Kirk Whalum, and Kool & The Gang. She’s the artist who can melt a room with one lyric… then light it up with one solo.

Xavier Gordon arrives as an exciting new voice on the jazz scene — pianist, songwriter, producer, and performer with a feel-good sound that hits hard live. He earned a GRAMMY nomination in 2018 for his production work and has toured extensively with Marcus Miller.

Arthur Thompson, Mindi’s long-time drummer, is the heartbeat behind the music — a visionary artist with purpose as a drummer, vocalist, producer, author, and educator. He was voted 2023 “Breakout Artist of the Year” by the Smooth Jazz Network.

Darryl Williams brings smooth-jazz firepower. His debut album That Was Then earned praise from JazzTimes and national airplay on SiriusXM. He’s shared stages with heavy hitters like Dave Koz, Peter White, Gerald Albright, Jonathan Butler, and of course, Mindi Abair. This isn’t just another holiday show — it’s a night that will leave you energized, moved, and truly in tune with the joy of the season. Whether you come for the songs, the shared moments, or just to be swept up in the joy of the season, this night promises to stay with you long after the last note.

You’re cordially invited to come early for the separately ticketed pre-show Wine and Jazz Tasting Experience, hosted by Abair and her husband, Eric Guerra. While pouring their company’s www.WINEandJAZZ.com wines, Guerra gives a master class in wine tasting while Abair pairs each wine style with a live performance song.

It’s always an event when Mindi Abair takes the stage, and this year, she can’t wait for Christmas. Can you?