Saturday, October 17, 2009

Vince GUARALDI Trio - A Boy Named Charlie Brown 1964


Vince GUARALDI Trio - A Boy Named Charlie Brown 1964
Label: Fantasy
Release date: 1 January 1990

Jazz

This review is from: A Boy Named Charlie Brown: The Original Sound Track Recording Of The CBS Television Special (Audio CD)
Vince Guaraldi was one of the few very talented jazz musicians who could span the divide between so-called pop and serious jazz. I think when a musician can touch the neophyte and the afficianado alike the music is something special. "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" is one of those very hip jazz albums that fortunately found its way to the mass market's ears. The swinging good feeling of the tune "Linus and Lucy" is so infectious you can't help but smile. No jazz missionary should leave home without this CD!
By  Emmett T. McQueen.
**         
By any standard, "Linus and Lucy" is a great song. Anyone over the age of seven is familiar with the melody, a catchy tune instantly identifiable with the Peanuts gang. It also put Vince Guaraldi, an artist who might otherwise have been a one-hit wonder with "Cast Your Fate To the Wind" and relegated to the minor leagues, on the map.

Guaraldi's reputation rests almost entirely on the music he created for the Peanuts television specials, but it's magnificent work that deserves to be recognized as such. Many are familiar with the music from It's A Charlie Brown Christmas , which almost entirely consisted of jazzed up versions of Christmas classics. For this 1964 recording (which was actually the first), Guaraldi composed all the music himself. In addition to "Linus and Lucy," there are a bunch of enchanting melodies that are filled with childish whimsy and bouncy swing. All are immediately catchy, mainly because they have the virtue of bearing a resemblance to other songs you've heard before, but can't quite place.

Since television scoring is designed to stick in the background and play second fiddle to the images, it's a testament to Guaraldi's art that he can craft songs that stand quite well separated from the images. It's not a children's album, but rather a top-notch series of breezy jazz treatments. A Boy Named Charlie Brown is arguably the best work that Guaraldi ever did, and an extra recording of "Fly Me To the Moon" demonstrates why he never could have established his reputation solely as an interpreter of standards; it lacks the punch of the previous material.

While A Boy Named Charlie Brown lacks a truly brilliant song like "Christmas Time Is Here," it nevertheless is a great album of piano jazz that proves when given a concept Guaraldi was a fine composer. The best improviser on the Peanuts specials may be the trombone player who does the voice of the teacher, but Guaraldi can lay claim to creating the material that gave them their spirit.
By David Rickert. AJJ.
**
Vince Guaraldi- Piano
Monty Budwig- Bass
Colin Bailey- Drums
**
01. Oh, Good Grief [2:24]
02. Pebble Beach [2:51]
03. Happiness Is [3:43]
04. Schroeder [1:54]
05. Charlie Brown Theme [4:25]
06. Linus And Lucy [3:07]
07. Blue Charlie Brown [7:30]
08. Baseball Theme [3:15]
09. Freda (With The Naturally Curly Hair) [4:34]
10. Fly Me To The Moon [8:55]
**
NoPassword
*
DLink
*

No comments:

Post a Comment