Let’s be honest,Christmas musicis pretty polarizing, especially when you get bombarded with it in every store and commercial from October on. That goes doubly so for any of us who have actually worked holiday retail; I know I still have “Little Drummer Boy” nightmares on occasion. Yet there is one album that will make me boogie with Christmas joy when I hear it, no matter where I am, and it’s the soundtrack toA Charlie Brown Christmas, because the Vince Guaraldi Trio is the real reason for the season.
ThePeanutsChristmas special first aired on CBS in 1965, and it has its own merits as a Christmas special, but it’s the music that brings it to life and made it a holiday mainstay that has endured almost sixty years of annual rebroadcasting. Vince Guaraldi and his band took something that was good and made it into something incredible, andthat’s why it’s the only Christmas album I own or will ever voluntarily put on. You can keep the rest ofthe best Christmas musicalsfor yourselves.
A Charlie Brown Christmas Avoids All Those Christmas Songs You’re Sick Of Hearing
“Jingle Bells”? Nope. “Rudolph”? Nope. That oneMariah Carey song I dare not even namelest it get stuck in my head for the rest of the year? Absolutely not. Thereisa version of “The Little Drummer Boy,” but it’s got a phenomenal beat to it, and it’s instrumental. In fact,most of the album is instrumental, other than the vocal arrangements of “Christmas Time Is Here” and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” which both feature pretty prominently in the special, since the cast sings them.
Yet even if a choir of actual children isn’t to your taste, there’s no denying that the album starts out strong (“O Tannenbaum,” swinging hard enough to make the Rat Pack swoon) and just keeps going (“What Child Is This,” “Linus and Lucy,” “Skating,” and all the rest). Guaraldi, already an experienced bandleader by this point in his career,got together a tight, skilled trio that makes truly beautiful jazz.
We Don’t Get Nearly Enough Jazz In Our Musical Diets The Rest Of The Year
Jazz Is The Musical Equivalent Of Brussels Sprouts – Delicious And Great For You But Only When Prepared Correctly
Unless you count the otherPeanutsholiday specials that Vince Guaraldi did the soundtracks for (Halloween, summer vacation, Election Day, Thanksgiving, Easter, Valentine’s Day, and strangely, Arbor Day),there really aren’t any definitive jazz albums that celebrate holidays. That’s disappointing, because jazz is wonderful, and Vince Guaraldi’s jazz is doubly so.
Guaraldi was born in 1928 and grew up in San Francisco, California’s North Beach neighborhood, where he learned an appreciation for jazz and big band music from both of his mother’s brothers, who were jazz bandleaders. After serving in the U.S. Army as a cook from ‘46 to ‘48, he returned to San Francisco and started playing piano professionally.His first appearance on a recording was in 1951, when he played in a trio with famous Latin jazz musician Cal Tjader; by ‘56, Guaraldi was his own bandleader.
While it took some time, Guaraldi’s 1962 albumJazz Impressions of Black Orpheusdid well enough, but it was the B-side from its lead single that really took off. “Cast Your Fate To The Wind” was a hit with radio DJs, and it was that song that got the attention of TV producer Lee Mendelson.After hearing “Cast Your Fate To The Wind” on the radio in 1963, he got Guaraldi to do the soundtrack for aPeanutsdocumentary; when the Coca-Cola Company commissioned aPeanutsChristmas special two years later, Guaraldi was right there to lay down the soundtrack.
So this holiday season, leave the bombastic Trans-Siberian Orchestra albums and your tear-stained copy of “The Christmas Shoes” on the shelf, andlet Vince Guaraldi be the soundtrack for your Christmas Eve, your Christmas, and even your Boxing Day. Trust me, you’ll be smiling and dancing along like Snoopy in no time.
