Vince Guaraldi

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Vincent Anthony Guaraldi
Vince Guaraldi
Born July 17, 1928
San Francisco, California, USA
Died February 6, 1976
Menlo Park, California, USA

Vince Guaraldi (July 17, 1928 – February 6, 1976) was an American jazz musician and pianist best known for composing music for animated adaptations of the Peanuts comic strip.

Guaraldi was born in San Francisco, California. He graduated from Lincoln High School, attended San Francisco State College, and served as an Army cook in the Korean War.

In his first serious gig, he had to fill in for Art Tatum.

His first recording came in 1953 when he played on the Cal Tjader Trio release Vibratharpe. By 1955, Guaraldi had put together his own trio with Eddie Duran and Dean Reilly.

Though he was best known for composing the music for the popular animated Peanuts television holiday specials, he was a Grammy award-winning jazz pianist prior to the Peanuts series. Nevertheless, his most-recognized tune by far is "Linus and Lucy" from A Charlie Brown Christmas, a song which is known by fans worldwide as the musical signature of the Peanuts franchise.

Guaraldi's "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" won a Grammy in the category "Best Original Jazz Composition." The track appears on the 1962 album Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus, inspired by the French/Brazilian film "Black Orpheus," which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Picture.

While searching for just the right music to accompany a planned Peanuts Christmas special, Charles Schulz (the creator of the Peanuts comic strip) and Lee Mendelson (the producer of the special) heard a live club performance of "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" by Vince Guaraldi's trio on the radio while traveling in a taxicab on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California. Schulz demanded to be taken to the club immediately [citation needed] and introduced himself to Mr. Guaraldi after the set. He proposed the idea of Mr. Guaraldi scoring the upcoming Peanuts Christmas special and Mr. Guaraldi enthusiastically took the job. He went on to compose scores for sixteen Peanuts television specials, and the feature film A Boy Named Charlie Brown.

Guaraldi died of a sudden heart attack at age 47 on February 6, 1976. He was found in a room at the Red Cottage Inn hotel, relaxing between sets at Butterfield's nightclub in Menlo Park, California. Guaraldi had just finished recording the soundtrack for It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown earlier that afternoon.

After Guaraldi's death, the music for the Peanuts series was composed by noted jazz musician David Benoit, who has often credited Guaraldi and the original Peanuts Christmas special music for his interest in jazz.

In 2004, a heretofore unknown live performance of the eight-part "Charlie Brown Suite" was released, restored from tapes in private collections.

Contents

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums as leader or co-leader

  • 1955 Modern Music from San Francisco
  • 1956 Vince Guaraldi Trio
  • 1957 A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing
  • 1962 Jazz Impressions Of Black Orpheus (also known as "Cast Your Fate to the Wind: Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus")
  • 1963 Vince Guaraldi In Person
  • 1963 Vince Guaraldi, Bola Sete and Friends
  • 1964 The Latin Side Of Vince Guaraldi
  • 1964 Jazz Impressions Of A Boy Named Charlie Brown
  • 1965 From All Sides (with Bola Sete)
  • 1965 The Grace Cathedral Concert
  • 1965 A Charlie Brown Christmas
  • 1966 Live at El Matador (with Bola Sete)
  • 1968 Vince Guaraldi With San Francisco Boys Chorus
  • 1968 Oh Good Grief!
  • 1969 The Eclectic Vince Guaraldi
  • 1970 Alma-Ville
  • 1998 Charlie Brown's holiday Hits
  • 2001 Jazz Casual: Paul Winter / Bola Sete & Vince Guaraldi (1963 television recording)
  • 2003 The Charlie Brown Suite & Other Favorites (previously unreleased material from late 1960s)
  • 2005 Oaxaca (previously unreleased material from late 1960s/early 1970s)
  • 2006 North Beach (previously unreleased material from late 1960s/early 1970s)
  • 2006 A Charlie Brown Christmas [Original Recordings Remastered] Reissued 1965 album with additional recordings and more complete versions of some tracks
  • 2007 (box set of recordings probably from the late 1960s/early 1970s; title yet to be announced)

[edit] Notable appearances on other albums

  • 1953 Vibra-Tharpe (Cal Tjader Trio; Guaraldi's first recorded session)
  • 1956 Introducing Gus Mancuso
  • 1957 Cal Tjader (Cal Tjader Quartet)
  • 1957 Jazz At The Blackhawk (Cal Tjader Quartet)
  • 1957 Tjader Goes Latin (Cal Tjader)
  • 1958 Stan Getz/Cal Tjader Sextet
  • 1958 Latin Concert (Cal Tjader Sextet)
  • 1959 West Coast Jazz In Hifi (Richie Kamuca/Bill Holman)
  • 1959 A Night At The Blackhawk (Cal Tjader Sextet)
  • 1960 Little Band, Big Jazz (The Conte Candoli All Stars)

[edit] Albums showcasing Vince Guaraldi’s music

[edit] External links

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