Christmas music is one of the most hallowed holiday traditions for me because it brings all the memories back and provides the soundtrack for new ones. Unlike the rest of the songs I’ve worn out, these retain their magic because I listen to them only a few days a year (I tune out the department store drone). Among my select albums is A Charlie Brown Christmas. Although I thought it was weird when I was a kid, it ain’t Christmas until that album has spun.

The prescient young Charlie Brown thought Christmas was too commercial in 1965. Funny that A Charlie Brown Christmas, with its kids’ falsettos and tinkly jazz piano, gave the world one of the best-selling Christmas albums of all time. It also made it cool to have a scrawny little tree.

Tonight at 7:30 p.m., the David Benoit Quartet and the Colorado Children’s Chorale accompany the Colorado Symphony Orchestra for a live, one-night performance of this classic at Boettcher Concert Hall in the Denver Performing Arts Complex. Purchase your tickets ($15 to $73) at any Ticketmaster outlet or through the CSO box office, online at www.ColoradoSymphony.org or by calling 303-623-7876.
Tue., Dec. 23, 7:30 p.m., 2008