With special guests Mindi Abair, David Benoit, Dave Koz, Jeffrey Osborne, Kirk Whalum, Peter White.   Nearly twenty years into his solo career, Rick Braun s done just about everything, from backing the likes of Rod Stewart and Sade to stepping out into the spotlight as a vocalist and a first-class master of the trumpet and flugelhorn. This year, Rick s getting into the swing of the holiday season with his first-ever Christmas album, Swingin In The Snow.   Right from the brassy, big band opening of I ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm to the final muted chord of Silent Night, Rick serves up a heaping helping of holiday cheer that s as warm as a yuletide fire and as cool as the season s first snow.    Of course, he s not doing this all by himself. Rick s enlisted some of the brightest stars on the pop scene to join in, from Mindi Abair to Peter White, and a whole lot more. On Swingin In The Snow, Braun s repertoire runs the gamut from Great American Songbook composers such as Irving Berlin and Mel Tormé to time-honored classics including Oh Tannenbaum and Silent Night.    And while these songs have all been performed and recorded hundreds if not thousands of times in the past, Braun imbues them with a freshness that s as bracing as a winter breeze. Want proof? Check out his neo-bossa take on Leroy Anderson s Sleigh Ride, teaming up with guitarist Peter White for a Brazilian groove. Or check out his sultry, sassy duet with vocalist Mindi Abair on Frank Loesser s Baby, It s Cold Outside. And nobody could resist Braun s soulful solo on Silent Night, opening out into a gospel chorus led by Jeffrey Osborne, Bridgette Bryant, and Swoop Brown.