Vincent Anthony "Vince" Guaraldi (July 17, 1928 – February 6, 1976) was an American jazz musician and pianist noted for his innovative compositions and arrangements and for composing music for animated adaptations of the ''Peanuts'' comic strip. Guaraldi was born in San Francisco, California, the son of a doting and devout Catholic mother, and the nephew of 20th Century musician, singer (and noted whistler) Muzzy Marcellino. Vince graduated from Lincoln High School, attended San Francisco State University, and served as an Army cook in the Korean War.
Early career and Grammy Award
Guaraldi's first recording was made in November 1953 with
Cal Tjader and came out early in 1954. The early 10 inch LP was called ''The Cal Tjader Trio'', included "Chopsticks Mambo", "Vibra-Tharpe", and "Lullaby of the Leaves." By 1955, Guaraldi had his own trio with
Eddie Duran and
Dean Reilly. He then reunited with Cal Tjader in June, 1956 and was an integral part of two great bands that the vibraphonist assembled. The first band played mainly straight jazz and included Al Torre (drums),
Eugene Wright (bass) and Luis Kant (congas and bongos). The second band was formed in the spring of 1958 and included
Al McKibbon (bass),
Mongo Santamaría (congas and bongos) and
Willie Bobo (drums and timbales). Reed men
Paul Horn and Jose "Chombo" Silva were also added to the group for certain live performances and recordings. He made a big splash with his performance with Tjader at the 1958
Monterey Jazz Festival.
Guaraldi left the group early in 1959 to pursue his own projects full time. He probably would have remained a well-respected but minor jazz figure had he not written an original number to fill out his covers of Antonio Carlos Jobim/Luis Bonfá tunes on his 1962 album, ''Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus'', inspired by the French/Brazilian film ''Black Orpheus'', which won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Fantasy Records released "Samba de Orpheus" as a single, trying to catch the building bossa nova wave, but it was destined to sink without a trace when radio DJs began flipping it over and playing the B-side, Guaraldi's "Cast Your Fate to the Wind". A gentle, likeable tune, it stood out from everything else on the airwaves and became a grass-roots hit. It also won the Grammy for Best Original Jazz Composition. While "Cast Your Fate To The Wind" by Guaraldi achieved modest chart success as a single in 1963, a cover version two years later by British group Sounds Orchestral cracked the Billboard top 10 (in the spring of 1965). Unlike many songwriters who grow weary of their biggest hits, Guaraldi never minded taking requests to play it when he appeared live. "It's like signing the back of a check", he once remarked.
Guaraldi then recorded an album called "Vince Guaraldi, Bola Sete, and Friends" with guitarist Bola Sete, Fred Marshall (bass) and Jerry Granelli (drums). This began a period of collaboration between Guaraldi and Sete where Guaraldi began experimenting with bossa nova-influenced music as well as with the electric piano. This led to the recording and release of his album, "The Eclectic Vince Guaraldi." Shortly after this, Guaraldi undertook the role of composer and pianist for the Eucharist chorus at the San Francisco Grace Cathedral. Utilizing his Latin influences from his bossa nova days with Bola Sete, Guaraldi composed a number of pieces with waltz tempos and jazz standards and later recorded this performance in 1965.
Compositions for Charles Schulz's ''Peanuts''
While searching for just the right music to accompany a planned ''Peanuts'' television documentary,
Lee Mendelson (the producer of the special) heard a single version 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. Mendelson contacted
Ralph J. Gleason, jazz columnist for the ''
San Francisco Chronicle'' and was put in touch with Guaraldi. He proposed that Guaraldi score the upcoming ''Peanuts'' Christmas special and Guaraldi enthusiastically took the job, performing a version of what became "Linus and Lucy" over the phone two weeks later. The soundtrack was recorded by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, whose other members were
Puzzy Firth stand in bassist for band member
Fred Marshall, who was ill at the time, and drummer
Jerry Granelli. Guaraldi went on to compose scores for seventeen ''Peanuts'' television specials, plus the feature film ''
A Boy Named Charlie Brown'' as well as the
unaired television program of the same name.
Death
Guaraldi died at age 47 on February 6, 1976. The evening before, he had dined at ''Peanuts'' producer Lee Mendelson's home, and was reportedly not feeling well, complaining of indigestion-like chest discomfort that his doctor had told him was nothing to worry about. The following evening, after concluding the first set at Butterfield's Nightclub in
Menlo Park, California with his rousing interpretation of "Eleanor Rigby," Guaraldi and drummer Jim Zimmerman returned to the room they were staying in that weekend at the adjacent Red Cottage Inn, to relax before the next set. Zimmerman commented, "He (Vince) was walking across the room and just collapsed. That was it." His cause of death has been variously described as a
heart attack or an
aortic aneurysm. Guaraldi had just finished recording the soundtrack for ''
It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown'' earlier that afternoon.
Guaraldi's untimely passing was a blow to his colleagues. "It was totally unexpected", said ''Peanuts'' executive producer Lee Mendelson. "The day of his funeral, they played the Charlie Brown music over the sound system in the church. It was not an easy day; he was so young. It was one of the saddest days of my life. He was up to my house the night before [his death], and said he had not been feeling well, and didn't know what it was." ''Peanuts'' animator Bill Meléndez added, "He was a real good guy and we miss him."
After Guaraldi's death, the music for the ''Peanuts'' series was composed first by San Francisco film and television composer Ed Bogas, who scored several ''Peanuts'' TV specials and motion pictures up to the early 1990s, along with Bogas' future wife Desirée Goyette, and occasionally, Judy Munsen. Bogas also did his own arrangements of Guaraldi's "Linus And Lucy" theme as a nod to the musician (most notably in ''It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown'' and ''What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown!'').
Legacy
David Benoit
Noted jazz musician
David Benoit has often credited Guaraldi and the original ''Peanuts'' Christmas special music for his interest in jazz. In 1985, Benoit recorded a cover of Guaraldi's "Linus and Lucy" for an album called ''This Side Up'', which enjoyed considerable radio airplay and helped launch the smooth jazz genre. He released "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" on the album ''Waiting for Spring'' in 1989.
George Winston
New Age pianist
George Winston released a Guaraldi tribute album in 1996 entitled ''
Linus and Lucy – The Music of Vince Guaraldi''. Winston performed many ''Peanuts'' songs that had not been released by Guaraldi himself. "I love his melodies and his chord progressions", Winston said of Guaraldi. "He has a really personal way of doing voicings." The album was very successful, leading Winston to record a follow-up entitled ''
Love Will Come – The Music of Vince Guaraldi, Volume 2'', released in early 2010.
In 2003, a heretofore unknown live performance of the eight-part "Charlie Brown Suite" was released on the album ''The Charlie Brown Suite & Other Favorites''. The performance was culled from tapes in Winston's private collection.
Discography
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''
1989 ''Greatest Hits'' (Compilation album by Fantasy Records)
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
2006 ''Vince Guaraldi and the Lost Cues from the Charlie Brown Television Specials'' (previously unreleased recordings from 1972–1975)
2008 ''Vince Guaraldi and the Lost Cues from the Charlie Brown Television Specials: Volume 2''
2008 ''Live on the Air''
2009 ''Essential Standards'' (Compilation album by Fantasy Records)
2009 ''The Definitive Vince Guaraldi'' (Compilation album by Fantasy Records including two previously unreleased tracks)
Notable appearances on other albums
1953 ''The Cal Tjader Trio'' (Guaraldi's first recorded session)
1956 ''Introducing Gus Mancuso'' (w / Cal Tjader)
1957 ''Jazz At The Blackhawk'' (Cal Tjader Quartet)
1957 ''Cal Tjader'' (Cal Tjader Quartet)
1957 ''Conte Candoli Quartet''
1958 ''Mas Ritmo Caliente'' (Cal Tjader)
1958 ''Stan Getz/Cal Tjader Sextet'' (all-star studio session that includes a long version of Guaraldi's piece "Ginza")
1958 ''Latin Concert'' (Cal Tjader Quintet)
1959 ''A Night At The Blackhawk'' (Cal Tjader Sextet)
1959 ''Latin For Lovers'' (Cal Tjader with Strings)
1959 ''Tjader Goes Latin'' (Cal Tjader)
1959 ''West Coast Jazz In Hifi'' (Richie Kamuca / Bill Holman)
1960 ''Little Band, Big Jazz'' (The Conte Candoli All Stars)
1974 ''Jimmy Witherspoon & Ben Webster – Previously Unissued Recordings'' (1960s session from Verve Records archive; the ''Black Orpheus'' incarnation of Guaraldi's trio supports the two leaders)
Albums showcasing or featuring Vince Guaraldi's music
1988 ''Quiet as the Moon'' (Dave Brubeck)
1989 ''Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown'' (Various artists including B. B. King, Chick Corea, Gerry Mulligan, Dave Brubeck)
1995 ''Joe's Cool Blues'' (Wynton Marsalis)
1996 ''Linus and Lucy – The Music of Vince Guaraldi'' (George Winston)
2000 ''Here's to You, Charlie Brown! 50 Great Years!'' (David Benoit)
2000 ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' (Cyrus Chestnut Trio)
2000 ''The Seventh Song'' (Steve Vai)
2006 ''Wintersong'' (Sarah McLachlan)
2010 ''Love Will Come – The Music of Vince Guaraldi, Volume 2'' (George Winston)
References
Liner notes to the 2006 re-mastered CD release of ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' soundtrack.
External links
Vince Guaraldi (requires Macromedia Flash for all content)
Peanuts Collector Club
Category:1928 births
Category:1976 deaths
Category:American jazz musicians of Italian descent
Category:American jazz pianists
Category:American people of Italian descent
Category:American pianists
Category:American Roman Catholics
Category:American television composers
Category:Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery (Colma)
Category:Cool jazz pianists
Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction
Category:Grammy Award winners
Category:Peanuts music
Category:People from San Francisco, California
Category:United States Army soldiers
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