If it’s November, and it’s Jim Brickman, it’s gonna be a holiday show — the pianist has done four Christmas records already. But Friday’s show at the Providence Performing Arts Center will still include a mix of his hits and songs from his latest disc, “Beautiful World.” “Even the day before Christmas,” Brickman says at the start of his latest tour, “it’s not all holiday. Because I figure if you’re lucky enough to have hits, you should play them.”

He’s had plenty of those, too. The pianist started with the instrumental solo disc “No Words” on Windham Hill in 1994, and it wasn’t long after that that he began adding singers, writing adult-contemporary pop songs and finding chart success with them.

“Beautiful World,” however, sees Brickman restoring piano instrumentals to his oeuvre (along with vocal cameos from Jon Secada, Orla Fallon, Melinda Doolittle and more), and he says that that was an important step in his evolution.

He says he enjoys working with guests, particularly singers, but it became a problem “when I had the record company telling me I was supposed to. Because then it didn’t feel like it was for the right reasons.”

It’s difficult enough for an instrumental artist to develop a name and a record-selling persona, and as part of the Sony/BMG major-label universe, Brickman explains, “It seemed like the formula to the business side of things was ‘Hitch Jim’s piano to someone else’s wagon and ride their popularity.’ But the problem with that is that I become subordinate to the vocalist. So even though I’m having hits on the radio, no one knows it’s me; they think it’s Martina McBride or Carly Simon. Which I love creatively, but it doesn’t translate.”

On his own label, Somerset Entertainment, a lot more work falls on his shoulders, he says, but he calls the shots. And the creation of “Beautiful World” was an example of that. “As I kept evolving the instrumentals, I thought, really I wanted this to be more of an instrumental record. So it evolves — it’s not something that gets decided and executed from the start.”

On his own, he says, he can map “the trajectory” of his career, as he describes it — “Start with solo piano; invite guests, because I like to write songs with words too … and then remind people ‘Oh that’s right — he’s a piano player really.’ ”

Brickman’s stage show, in which he describes himself as “the master of ceremonies,” includes bits of storytelling and question-and-answer sessions with the audience, and that’s also helped him in the process of making his name. Besides, he says, it would be weird not to engage with the audience in that way.

“People are using [the songs] for intimate moments, like birthing a baby or a wedding — these are intimate moments in people’s lives. So if I’m not really connected to that on stage, it would seem inauthentic. I mean, it is who I am, so I don’t have to fake it, but they’re looking at me all night, so if I don’t engage, it’s basically a piano recital, and I wouldn’t want to go to that.”

Jim Brickman plays at the Providence Performing Arts Center, 220 Weybosset St., Providence, Friday night at 8 p.m. Tickets are $35, $45 and $55; call (401) 421-2787 or go to www.ppacri.org.

Sunny and Her Joy Boys are at the Peeptoad Coffeehouse, at the Foster Country Club, 67 Johnson Rd., Foster, Friday night at 8. Tickets are $20, $10 for children under 12. Call (401) 392-1322 or go to www.fosteringarts.org.

rmassimo@projo.com