Newly re-discovered in our vaults, the original recording sessions for Vince Guaraldi's soundtrack for "You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown" now remastered for audiophiles and Peanuts® fans and election lovers everywhere. All versions of this release include the original 15 tracks of cues from the special - with extended performances available for the first time ever - plus 10 extra bonus tracks never before heard since their recording in 1972.
Vince Guaraldi was a well-respected jazz pianist whose greatest success came from avenues usually closed to contemporary jazz artists: he enjoyed a hit single at a time when jazz had largely been exiled from the pop charts, and he scored a series of very successful animated television specials (namely the Charlie Brown seasonal specials scores and soundtracks for which his name has become synonymous), a medium where cookie-cutter pop music was traditionally the order of the day.
In his first album for Warner Bros., Vince Guaraldi serves up another delightful, though pitifully short (27 minutes) helping of his themes for the Peanuts TV specials. By this time, like several other pianists, Guaraldi was actively exploring the new sonic horizons offered by electronic keyboards, and so he superimposes layers of electric harpsichord on most of these tracks. Some of the old sardonic spontaneity goes over the side, replaced by an overloaded gee-whiz atmosphere that sometimes gets in the way of the quartet's willingness to swing. But the tunes are marvelous, and since so little of Guaraldi's vast Peanuts output was ever made available, every millisecond of these jazz waltzes, bossa novas and soulful ruminations on Charlie Brown's world becomes cherishable.
Acclaimed pianist and composer Isaiah J. Thompson offers jazz lovers a spirit-lifting gift this holiday season, announcing the release of A Guaraldi Holiday. A tribute to the eclectic music of Vince Guaraldi – work which served as a both an introduction to jazz, and as a childhood sound track for generations of music lovers, Thompson included – the invigorating set was co-produced by Thompson with John Pizzarelli and features 12 fresh tracks, each one an exercise in nostalgic expressionism.
After years of struggle with Fantasy Records, Vince Guaraldi finally extricated himself from his contract. In 1968, he signed with Warner Bros.' Seven Arts imprint. All three Seven Arts albums and four bonus tracks are included in this double set from Omnivore, representing the final sides Guaraldi cut for a major during his lifetime.