San Francisco pianist had a full career during his too-short life. As well as―for much of his adult life―an even fuller mustache. So how would he have felt about everyone remembering him for Peanuts Christmas music?
Well, I can't speak for him. But his compositions and interpretations for A Charlie Brown Christmas show an inventiveness and love that you don't achieve without putting some of your soul into the work. This riff on a 19th century German carol very much included. So yeah, I think he'd be cool with this being his legacy.
Merry Christmas, friends.
3 comments:
A wonderful accomplishment all by itself is that Guaraldi's compositions for Charlie Brown introduced a lot of children to jazz. Of course, to be honest I hadn't heard of him either until 1965 when A Charlie Brown Christmas was televised. O Tannenbaum is one of my all time favorite songs. The arrangement, the Guaraldi sound, that undercurrent of bittersweet melancholy, you know it's him within the first two seconds of hearing any of his melodies.
Linus's speech about the meaning of Christmas may have been the only time he dropped his blanket. Whether people believe the story on a factual basis is irrelevant. It speaks to something fundamentally human, that we, as individuals and as a species or society or whatever, for all our many, many failings, are loved.
https://youtu.be/rKqF9yUlOwg?si=wX1fzyofTlG3casl
have you heard Wynton Marsalis's album, Joe Cool's Blues?
https://youtu.be/0W_gg2XRSCo?si=JvOLn2khdQ7Az8Wc
Happy Christmas to you 💖
I've heard that a lot of jazz musicians make it a practice to learn the lyrics of songs they're playing, even if they're just playing them as instrumentals. That way they know the emotional content, what they should be reaching for. I don't know if Guaraldi read the script, but it feels like he knew what the characters would be up to. And I guess he must have at least known the English language lyrics of "Oh Christmas Tree."
The kids were voiced by actual kids. Some of them were child actors, but it doesn't sound like they were over-rehearsed. Linus's sentiment is beautiful and infectious.
"joe Cool's Blues" is really enjoyable listening. Wynton Marsalis is playing with his dad, Ellis Marsalis, here. They have good chemistry.
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