From the San Diego Arts Community...

SAN DIEGO — San Diego jazz fans can ring in the New Year with the likes of David Benoit, Stanley Clarke and other jazz talents in live performances, or they can drop by their record store and stock up from the array of new albums.

Also, radio stations will be mixing jazz versions of Christmas songs into their regular play lists, and several clubs are planning special jazz events for New Year’s Eve.

December in general is an action-packed month for San Diego jazz. Here’s a look.

In person:

At the B St. Cafe & Bar, 425 W. B St., downtown San Diego, Hollis Gentry’s Neon plays Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights through the end of the month.

Chuck’s Steak House, 1250 Prospect St., La Jolla, will feature Zzajj, led by saxman Leroy Locke, stirring things up New Year’s Eve. This month, 911 plays jazz Wednesday through Saturday nights.

At the Copacabana, 2888 Pacific Highway, San Diego, Latin jazz is featured five nights a week, including a $50 New Year’s bash with three simultaneous performances in various rooms by Jaime Moran, flamenco dancers and a Brazilian review.

At Elario’s, 7955 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, you can fiddle away the waning moments of 1988 with violinist Papa John Creach. For $65, you get the music, plus Champagne and a six-course dinner. Mose Allison, the laid-back jazz vocalist, sings Wednesday through Saturday nights, Dec. 14-30.

At Humphrey’s, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, San Diego, on Sunday and Monday nights through the end of the month, it will be Hollis Gentry’s Neon. Monday through Friday, 5:30 to 8:30, Bruce McKeithen plays the piano bar.

The Imperial House, 505 Kalmia St., San Diego, will feature Wayne Jure and his group Tuesday through Saturday nights, and New Year’s Eve.

On radio:

KSDS-FM (88.3), San Diego City College’s jazz station, will offer Joy of Sax, a saxophone quartet, at 8 p.m. Dec. 13 in the college’s theater, as part of the live broadcast “Jazz Live” series. The group will include a few Christmas songs in its show. This Wednesday at 11 a.m., you can catch a live interview with jazz sax great James Moody. Feelin’ low about Yuletide or year’s end? Tune in blues on the “Every Shade of Blue” show, both Christmas and New Year’s Eves.

KIFM (98.1) is mixing Christmas songs into its rotation from more than a dozen new holiday albums. Tom Scott, Lee Ritenour, Diane Schur, Chick Corea, Dave Grusin, and Mannheim Steamroller are among the musicians with new Christmas music out. On New Year’s Eve, $60 will get you a pass to the jazz extravaganza the station is presenting in conjunction with the Bahia and Catamaran hotels. David Benoit and Stanley Clarke will each play a hotel, Hollis Gentry’s Neon and Fattburger will appear in the hotel lounges, and there will be bands aboard the hotels’ paddle-wheel boats.

KIFM is presenting two holiday jazz concerts to benefit the homeless. Donate a blanket, get an autographed photo of the stars. This Tuesday night, Wishful Thinking will headline at San Diego State University’s Montezuma Hall. The 98-cent admission goes to the Salvation Army’s Emergency Blanket Program. On Dec. 23, a Friday, the female jazz vocal group Pastiche will include Christmas songs in a show at the Bacchanal, 8022 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., San Diego. Admission is $4.98.

Tuba Man’s, 2551 University Ave., San Diego, will serve up traditional and Dixieland jazz from High Society, Friday evenings from 5:30 to 8:30.

Other San Diego venues offering jazz regularly basis this month include the U.S. Grant Hotel, downtown San Diego; the Oasis Club, 3184 Market St., downtown San Diego; the Sculpture Garden Cafe in Balboa Park; Patrick’s II, 428 F St., downtown San Diego, and Smedley’s Baseball Inn, 502 5th Ave., downtown San Diego.