This December, world-class jazz bass player Sean Drabitt leaves the bright lights and snow in New York City to return to his home city of Victoria to perform in a tradition thatB次元官网网址檚 close to his heart.

ItB次元官网网址檚 one of the cityB次元官网网址檚 biggest holiday hits over the past two decades, and one that he started: A Charlie Brown Christmas at HermannB次元官网网址檚 Jazz Club.

B次元官网网址淚 remember doing that show probably 15 years ago or more when I started it and then, maybe 10 years later, I noticed they were all over North America. Every city has a Charlie Brown show now at Christmas. But when I first started doing it, I didnB次元官网网址檛 remember seeing anybody else doing it,B次元官网网址� Drabitt said.

A Charlie Brown Christmas has it all: a turkey dinner, sing-along sheet music for the audience, and top-tier musicians bringing the animationB次元官网网址檚 soundtrack to life while the original 1965 film streams silently on a TV. DrabittB次元官网网址檚 musical show remains remarkably unchanged from its inception, including Brit Jarvis still on piano. The only change is Joe Pool, a drummer from Vancouver, stepping in for DrabittB次元官网网址檚 close friend, Josh Dixon, who passed away. Nothing much has needed to change, because Drabitt said the show has always just worked.

B次元官网网址淚 thought when I first put it together, B次元官网网址楾his is something that people will want to come back to every yearB次元官网网址� and it came to be exactly that.B次元官网网址�

Drabitt was inspired to start the show because the music had a huge influence on his career.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檇 say that [animation] and Tom and Jerry cartoons are some of the first exposure I had to real straight-ahead jazz,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚t became my life doing that for a living, and it had a certain impact on me. You know, everyone loves that music.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淏e-bop was around in the B次元官网网址�40s and it became more musicianB次元官网网址檚 music so people saw it being more of an intellectual exercise. [Whereas] hard-bop brought the blues back, it brought it more accessible. Charlie Brown, Vince GuaraldiB次元官网网址檚 music, and Horace Silver really added that hard-bop movement and playing. Of course, I didnB次元官网网址檛 realize any of that at the time, I just liked it.B次元官网网址�

Drabitt, now 53, said his career started when he was 15, and playing jazz is all heB次元官网网址檚 ever done for a living.

Originally, he started off with electric bass, but a switch to the upright proved to be a challenge he had to overcome to launch his jazz career.

B次元官网网址淚 kind of hated it for a year B次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 a painful, hard instrument, but once you start to get it together it has its merits,B次元官网网址� he said. Consider that his hands need to smoothly cover 42 inches of string to create the elaborate voicings of jazz baselines.

B次元官网网址淚n order to produce a good sound, you really have to pin the notes with your left hand and pull a sound out of the bass with your right B次元官网网址� and a lot of the work and practice with the bow is just to be able to focus your energy so youB次元官网网址檙e relaxed in every other way except the amount of effort you need to put in.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淏ut I love it. I have no regrets, I never wanted to play anything else after that.B次元官网网址�

After performing and teaching music in Korea for the last five years, Drabitt has found his groove in New York. ItB次元官网网址檚 a competitive environment, where he has to know over 1,000 songs at any time off hand. Though he loves it, A Charlie Brown Christmas in Victoria remains his holiday homecoming. He has, after all, performed at HermannB次元官网网址檚 since he was 15.

B次元官网网址淚 love that show. Half of my life IB次元官网网址檝e been coming out to Victoria to do it,B次元官网网址� Drabitt said. B次元官网网址淚 have so many great memories playing there through the years.B次元官网网址�

A Charlie Brown Christmas returns to HermannB次元官网网址檚 Jazz Club with multiple shows Dec. 21 and 22.