"North Beach" **** Vince Guaraldi No LP release D&D VG4465 Released January 2006

Once again working with tapes restored by Michael Graves, Dave Guaraldi self-produced a third new CD of his father's previously unreleased material, this compilation also on the revived D&D label.

The liner notes do not give a clue as to where these tracks were performed -- in a studio, or live -- although the implication is that they spring from club dates in San Francisco's jazz-hued North Beach region. Indeed, the liner notes will one day make this disc a jazz historian's nightmare, because while several sidemen are credited -- Seward McCain and Peter Marshall (bass), Al Coster and Jerry Granelli (drums), and Vince's longtime buddy Eddie Duran (guitar) -- there's no indication of who played on which track.

The tracks themselves are an interesting mix. Several will sound quite familiar, as they've appeared on earlier Guaraldi albums: "Lucifer's Lady," "It Was a Very Good Year" and "Masked Marvel," in particular. Although these are different versions from those on albums Guaraldi fans already possess, the distinctions are so slight that casual fans may not be able to distinguish them.

The variations are more pronounced on the two versions of "Cast Your Fate to the Wind," which open and close this album, and the Peanuts stalwart "Linus and Lucy." These three tracks are quite different from versions we've heard before, and the concluding take on "Cast Your Fate" is particularly noteworthy: an entirely new direction for Vince's signature theme, apparently recorded shortly before he died, and a clear indication that he still was experimenting with the song that put him on the jazz map.

Musically, the three biggest treats are covers of Elton John's "Your Song" and Joe Cowan's "Cabaret" -- the latter a particularly lively rendition of that classic show tune -- and an extended version of "Autumn Leaves" that will fool you into thinking that it's some other song entirely ... until, six minutes into this awesome performance, Vince and the band finally find their way back to the familiar melody line.

In many ways, this CD feels like The Eclectic Vince Guaraldi: an odd mix of this and that, albeit overall a more enjoyable collection. But without any context in Dave Guaraldi's sparse liner notes, it's impossible to catalog any of this music in terms of its place in Vince's career.

Personnel:
Vince Guaraldi -- piano, harpsichord
Eddie Duran -- guitar
Seward McCain, Peter Marshall -- bass
Al Coster, Jerry Granelli -- drums

Track Listing:
"Autumn Leaves"
"Cabaret"
"Cast Your Fate to the Wind" [two versions]
"It Was a Very Good Year"
"Linus and Lucy"
"Lucifer's Lady"
"The Masked Marvel"
"Your Song"

Guaraldi compositions:
"Cast Your Fate to the Wind"
"Lucifer's Lady"
"Linus and Lucy"
"Masked Marvel"

"The Lost Cues from the Charlie Brown Television Specials" **** Vince Guaraldi No LP release D&D VG1118 Released December 2006

After recording studio master tapes were discovered for seven of the later Peanuts TV specials scored by Guaraldi, his son Dave cherry-picked many of the better individual songs and cues for this album. They come from four shows: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving; There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown; You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown; and You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown. The restoration work once again is superb, thanks to the efforts of Michael Graves and his Atlanta, Georgia-based Osiris Studio. Even so, the listening experience is slightly uneven; the original recording sessions go back to the late 1960s and early '70s, obviously with different technicians and production elements. As a result, the background hiss and occasional fuzz is noticeably different from one track to the next ... but probably not enough to be distracting to any but the most demanding listeners.

The album's prizes include a short but exceptionally lively rendition of "Peppermint Patty"; an up-tempo variation on the title theme for There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown; and the nearly seven-minute "Pitkin County Blues." The latter is a sassy number highlighted by Tom Harrell's deliciously wicked trumpet (a bit of unexpected instrumentation for a Guaraldi combo), along with the usual solid support from Seward McCain (bass) and Glenn Cronkite (drums).

It's also nice to hear Guaraldi's own handling of "The Incumbent Waltz" (a great title for an equally droll little tune, quite appropriately used in You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown). George Winston fans will recognize the melody, since the New Age pianist frequently has performed it during his live concerts ... and keeps promising to include it in his upcoming second album of Guaraldi compositions.

The album tracks alternate between Guaraldi's traditional piano stylings and the electronic keyboards he favored toward the end of his career; he's equally deft and inventive on both. But because the tracks are in no particular order, one can't get a sense of how his switch from acoustic to electronic instrumentation progressed, which is a shame ... but I suppose a dedicated listener could re-sequence the CD.

The album includes two versions of "Joe Cool": a wonderfully lengthy instrumental, and a shorter vocal. (Guaraldi was quite skilled at varying the mix on his more popular compositions; remember, he scored 15 of these animated TV specials, and felt compelled to include -- for example -- a version of "Linus and Lucy" in just about all of them. Every version was significantly different, whether in arrangement, instrumentation or both. The same is true of "Joe Cool" and "Little Birdie," both of which popped up frequently in the later TV specials.) Flutist Pat O'Hara contributes a clever counter-melody in this instrumental version of "Joe Cool," and I defy the listener not to keep time with a snapping finger or tapping toe. Guaraldi's vocal version of the same song is just a hair slower than usual, the lyrics and arrangement ideally suited to his gravelly voice. It's hard not to picture Snoopy strutting down the school hallway. (Accuracy compels me to point out, however, that this vocal version of "Joe Cool" is a variant from the recording session for There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown ... not from It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown, as the liner notes claim.)

Some of the other tracks -- notably "Centercourt," "Motocross" and "African Sleigh Ride" -- were designed to be background instrumentals that filled the space behind bits of silent comedy or even conversations between characters. As a result, they can sound repetitive when removed from their visual action. "Motocross," in particular, lingers about two minutes too long.

Perhaps to suggest a sense of the authentic recording-studio experience, Dave Guaraldi chose to leave lead-in business on many of the tracks ... say, a quick noodling warm-up by one of the musicians, or the recording engineer's "Cue 13," followed by Guaraldi's countdown: "One-two-three-two-two-three!" Such stuff might be considered cute the first time one plays the CD, but it quickly grows tiresome and merely detracts from the joys of the music itself.

On the other hand, I'm pleased to see that Dave took my complaint regarding the previous album, North Beach, to heart: This one carefully identifies which musician plays which instrument on every track. It's nice to know who to acknowledge for each solo.

(On the third hand, I'm not sure whether to trust this information, based on the trouble Dave had with the liner notes for the next album in this series. For openers, the dates of the various recording sessions are ... unlikely. See the next review for all the gory details.)

Finally, a bewildering (albeit minor) comment regarding the track selection: Despite the wealth of material from which to choose, Dave inexplicably resurrected one cue from an earlier album -- "Thanksgiving Theme," also found on Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits -- although this is an entirely different version of the track. (One expects such duplication with the ubiquitous "Linus and Lucy" and "Joe Cool," but it seems unnecessary with something like "Thanksgiving Theme.")

On the fourth hand, Dave deserves full credit for correctly identifying the title theme from Play It Again, Charlie Brown, as opposed to using its later alternate title of "Charlie Brown Blues."

Personnel:
Vince Guaraldi -- keyboards
Tom Harrell -- trumpet
Chuck Bennett -- trombone
Pat O'Hara -- flute
Seward McCain -- bass
Mike Clark, Glenn Cronkite, Mark Rosengarden -- drums

Track listing: "African Sleigh Ride"
"Centercourt"
"Incumbent Waltz"
"Joe Cool" (vocal and instrumental)
"Little Birdie"
"Motocross"
"Peppermint Patty"
"Pitkin County Blues"
"Play It Again, Charlie Brown" (aka "Charlie Brown Blues")
"Thanksgiving Theme"
"There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown"

Guaraldi compositions:
All of them

"The Lost Cues from the Charlie Brown Television Specials, Volume 2" **** Vince Guaraldi No LP release D&D VG1119 Released December 2007

Dave Guaraldi once again draws from the best as-yet unheard tracks from the work his father did on Peanuts TV specials toward the end of his career, this time cherry-picking material from It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown; Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown; It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown; A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving; and You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown. The collection is a mix of Vince's signature compositions -- yet again different versions of "Linus and Lucy," "Joe Cool" and "Little Birdie" -- and previously uncollected underscore cues. In most cases, Guaraldi plays an electronic keyboard, and it's truly amazing how much swing he can get from an instrument that can sound sterile in lesser hands.

The meticulous restoration work again comes courtesy of Michael Graves and Osiris Studio. The overall listening experience is reasonably balanced, although one track -- "Is It James or Charlie," from A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving -- sounds as though it originally had been recorded in a closet ... beneath about a mile of ocean water. (This isn't the fault of the restoration process; sadly, this entire recording session simply wasn't preserved very well.) Otherwise, the varying studio conditions are leveled surprisingly well, as noted in my comments for Volume 1 in this series.

The album kicks off with a lively toe-tapper: a grooving instrumental composition that accompanies Marcie and Peppermint Patty's antics while trying to color eggs in It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown, and quite appropriately called "Kitchen Music." (I know, I know ... you won't even find that title on the liner notes. I'll discuss this little problem at greater length below.) It's followed by "Snoopy and Woodstock," a droll instrumental buddy theme for the world-famous beagle and his best birdie friend. Drummer Glenn Cronkite establishes a sassy beat, and Guaraldi and bassist Seward McCain really go to town.

Some of the album's slower tracks demonstrate Guaraldi's ability to evoke gentler moods and the sort of melancholia that one would associate with Charlie Brown. Both "There's Been a Change" and "Never Again" tug at the heart and recall the sadder moments involving Chuck's repeated disappointments during Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown.

This album's version of "Linus and Lucy" is brief, but it's adorable, with some gentle bell sounds added to punctuate the familiar tune. The instrumental version of "Joe Cool" mixes things up a bit with a mouth harp and some piano noodlings; Guaraldi also whistles the melody line, and does so quite well. Finally, the instrumental version of "Little Birdie" also seems to whistle the melody line, although in this case it's Guaraldi's electronic keyboard.

As was the case with the first collection in this series, some of the cues don't stand that well on their own, as they were intended to be used as underscore to on-screen antics. "Charlie Brown's Wake-Up" is perhaps the worst offender here; it's almost random keyboard work and never really goes anywhere.

On the other hand, both "Cops and Robbers" and "Sally's Blues" are a lot of fun. The former starts off sounding like a re-working of "Linus and Lucy" but then develops its own identity as a fast-paced toe-tapper. "Sally's Blues" is really sassy: the sort of dirty blues that makes you close your eyes and smile with appreciation.

The album concludes with a variant version of "Nobody Else," probably recorded during the sessions that resulted in the earlier album, The Eclectic Vince Guaraldi. The instrumentation is the same, but the reading is "pure": The intrusive string section, added after the fact for the album release, is absent (and thank God for that!). I've always felt this cut belonged in the Peanuts musical canon; this particular version merely reinforces that opinion. That is, however, only my opinion; there's no indication it ever was intended as a Peanuts cue, and therefore its inclusion here -- on an album supposedly devoted to Peanuts TV show themes -- is a bit suspect.

Alas, as with the previous collection, Dave Guaraldi once again includes lead-in business on many of the tracks: comments from the recording engineer and Vince's own countdowns. As I said before, this stuff is unnecessary and subtracts from the listening experience.

But that isn't this album's biggest sin.

Aside from the well-recognized signature themes, most listeners won't have any reference point to the titles of most tracks, and therefore won't be aware of the many mistakes made with respect to the labeling of this album's tracking sequence. But even a casual fan will recognize that "Little Birdie" actually is the seventh track, rather than the eighth. Indeed, the tracking order printed on the back of the jewel case, and inside the liner notes booklet, bears scant resemblance to reality. In a word, it's a mess: Cues are out of order, titled incorrectly or absent altogether. Many running times are works of fiction.

And while each track does come from the animated TV special assigned to it, the recording session dates are suspect. You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown aired in 1972, so clearly the music for that show wasn't recorded in 1974. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving aired in 1973, so its music obviously wasn't recorded in 1974. It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown aired in February 1974, so obviously its music wasn't recorded in July of that same year. Finally, Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown aired in 1975 ... so it's highly unlikely (although possible, I'll admit) that its music was recorded in 1973.

I can't help being worried that such sloppiness extends to the track-by-track listings of personnel; if so, that's be a real crisis.

Despite what the CD claims, therefore, please note that what follows here is the true tracking order, with correct titles and running times:

1) "Kitchen Music" (not "Woodstock's Dream"), 1:43
2) "Snoopy and Woodstock," 2:11
3) "Never Again," 1:34
4) "Heartburn Waltz," 2:00
5) "Charlie Brown's Wake-Up," 1:30
6) "There's Been a Change," 1:34
7) "Little Birdie," 1:56
8) "Cops and Robbers," 1:43
9) "Sally's Blues," 1:41
10) "It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown," 2:05
11) "Is It James or Charlie," 2:22
12) "Oh, Good Grief" (from You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown), 1:06
13) "Linus and Lucy," 1:20
14) "Joe Cool," 3:01
15) "Nobody Else," 4:35

The cue "Bus Me" (listed as track 3) isn't to be found anywhere. And track 12 is "Oh, Good Grief," as indicated above, although the liner notes don't mention it at all.

Personnel:
Vince Guaraldi -- keyboards
Seward McCain, Peter Marshall -- bass
Glenn Cronkite, Mike Clark, Al Coster -- drums

Track listing:
See above

Guaraldi compositions:
All of them

"Live on the Air" **** Vince Guaraldi No LP release D&D VG1120 Recorded February 6, 1974; released December 2008

This superb set of music was recorded live February 6, 1974, at the Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco. The first nine songs, all running at a generous length that allows plenty of space for improv, appear to have been made with radio play in mind; those songs run just shy of an hour, and then an engineer can be heard as he says, "Vince ... we're off the air." The remaining three songs can be regarded as "bonus material"; Guaraldi noodles his way into them, and in one case abruptly halts, obviously dissatisfied with how he began, and starts anew. (More on this later.) The mastering overall is excellent; the recording quality is crisp, and the listening experience is -- for the most part -- a total joy.

The "polished" hour-long set is a great find for Guaraldi fans. Dr. Funk alternates between piano and fender rhodes, and he's supported by Seward McCain (bass) and Eliot Zigmund (drums). The set list includes several songs for which Guaraldi was well known -- "On Green Dolphin Street," "Eleanor Rigby" and the signature hits "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" and "Linus and Lucy" -- along with a few he recorded less frequently, if at all.

Guaraldi opens the set on piano, with a swingin' cover of "Cabaret": a straight-ahead bopper in traditional trio style, with some energetic solos. His other tracks on piano include the Bread ballad "If," in a very nice arrangement with a mid-song tempo shift that kicks things into gear; a rockin' cover of the Charlie Parker tune "Billie's Bounce" -- I know this title isn't listed on the CD; bear with me (and see below) -- which boasts a great keyboard solo by Vince (and a tiresome drum solo from Zigmund ... whose contributions on the entire CD, it should be mentioned, aren't up to the quality of his far more talented companions); "Eleanor Rigby," "Linus and Lucy" and "Cast Your Fate to the Wind." The latter two, although present on many other CDs at this point, are nonetheless different and quite energetic arrangements; Guaraldi is a master at squeezing fresh juice from his iconic works.

He switches to fender rhodes for an up-tempo arrangement of the title theme to the Peanuts animated TV special There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown and a slow and sweet cover of Miles Davis' "Old Folks." (I know, I know; that isn't even included on the track list. More on this later, as well.)

The "bonus tracks" are "Cops and Robbers," a great expansion of an underscore track from the Peanuts TV special It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown, played on piano and highlighted by a really peppy keyboard interlude; a cover of the pop song "One, Two, Three," popularized back in the 1960s by Len Barry and rendered here as an up-tempo ballad on fender rhodes; and the aforementioned "On Green Dolphin Street," also on fender rhodes, and boasting nice solos from both Guaraldi and McCain.

The music, the bits of fourth-quarter random jamming aside, is the good news. Its presentation is ... somewhat lacking.

The album was mastered in August 2009 at Sierra Digital, in Menlo Park; Vince's son Dave is credited as producer. It's therefore difficult to know who to blame for the package's, ah, eccentricities. For openers, there's no reason two discs were needed; had the extraneous noodlings been eliminated, along with Guaraldi's false start on "Cops and Robbers," all the music could have been placed on a single CD. Listening to musicians banter might be fun in a live concert context, but the talking here can't qualify as banter; it's just between-cues instructions that never should have been recorded for posterity. And why are "Eleanor Rigby" and "Linus and Lucy" laid down as a single track? It's not a medley; "Eleanor Rigby" ends to applause and a brief pause, before "Linus and Lucy" begins. Obviously these should be two different tracks!

And speaking of that applause, there's the entire issue of the circumstances under which this material was recorded. "On the air" for which station, precisely? Broadcast when, if at all? The CD's scarce liner notes give no clue; while Jesse Hayes writes a nice essay about Guaraldi and his music in general, there's no information about this specific session. And who, I wonder, was in the "audience" applauding? That's a bit unusual for what sounds like a studio recording session.

On a slightly more modest level, the drummer's name is Eliot Zigmund, not Elliot Zigman.

Perhaps most egregious, though, is the matter of the careless track listings, a problem that also plagued the previous D&D Guaraldi release. Four titles are just plain wrong. The third track on disc one, while claiming to be a Charlie Parker tune called "Now's the Time," actually is a different Charlie Parker tune called "Billie's Bounce." The fifth track on disc one, while claiming to be "I Could Write a Book," actually is the aforementioned "Old Folks." The fifth track on disc two is "Cops and Robbers," not "Little Birdie." (It appears that whoever made this gaffe merely copied the incorrect information from Lost Cues 2, because that CD also confuses "Little Birdie" with "Cops and Robbers.) Finally, there's the matter of the second track on disc two, which is titled "Then Came You." Well, it certainly is not the Dionne Warwick/Spinners classic. In point of fact, this is a lengthy interpretation of "Woodstock's Pad," one of the underscore themes from the Peanuts animated TV special, It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown. It's a gorgeous reading and expansion of a bit of music that didn't even last a minute on the TV special, proving once again that Guaraldi was a genius when it came to developing hook-laden compositions from even the most modest sources.

(Sharp-eared listeners also will detect that this collection's versions of "Cabaret" and "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" are identical to those on the North Beach CD.)

In the interest of accuracy, then, here's the actual tracking order, with running times and correct titles:

Disk one

1) "Cabaret," 7:39
2) "If," 8:14
3) "Billie's Bounce," 5:50
4) "There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown," 7:02
5) "Old Folks," 8:21

Disk two

1) "Eleanor Rigby," 5:14/"Linus and Lucy," 4:12; 9:34 total
2) "Woodstock's Pad," 6:02
3) "Cast Your Fate to the Wind," 3:46
4) Chat from the control booth; random remarks from the musicians, 1:00
5) "Cops and Robbers," 7:18 (including the false start)
6) "One, Two, Three," 7:24
7) "On Green Dolphin Street," 8:05

Personnel:
Vince Guaraldi -- piano, Fender Rhodes
Seward McCain -- electric bass
Eliot Zigmund -- drums

Track listing:
See above

Guaraldi compositions:
"Cast Your Fate to the Wind"
"Cops and Robbers"
"Linus and Lucy"
"There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown"
"Woodstock's Pad"

"Essential Standards" ***** Vince Guaraldi No LP release Concord OJC 31426 02 Released June 30, 2009

This second compilation album is both an ideal companion to Vince Guaraldi's Greatest Hits and a better overview -- than that first anthology -- of his Fantasy Records years. There's very little overlap; this and Greatest Hits have only two tracks in common, "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" -- certainly necessary in a Guaraldi collection with the word "essential" in its title -- and his cover of the Henry Mancini/Johnny Mercer standard, "The Days of Wine and Roses."

The remaining tracks draw from eight different albums, and (thankfully!) include four tracks from his first two albums with Eddie Duran (guitar) and Dean Reilly (bass): "Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise," "Willow Weep for Me," "Autumn Leaves" and "Fascinating Rhythm." Two tracks -- "The Girl from Ipanema" and the aforementioned "Days of Wine and Roses" -- draw from Guaraldi's years with Bola Sete, and the rest are well chosen from other albums.

Peanuts tracks are conspicuously absent. On the one hand, this makes sense; Guaraldi's Peanuts music is heavily recorded elsewhere. On the other hand, I'd argue that "Linus and Lucy" definitely has become an "essential standard," and "Christmas Time Is Here" isn't far behind. Only one track draws from Guaraldi's Charlie Brown side, though, and it's not really "Peanuts music": Vince's cover of "Greensleeves," from A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Although these dozen tracks do represent an excellent overview of Guaraldi's career, they're not arranged in chronological order, so it's impossible to get a sense of how his musical "sound" evolved. I'm also surprised that, with the exception of "Cast Your Fate to the Wind," all these tracks are covers of songs by other composers; Guaraldi's composing talents are largely overlooked. (But, then, it's probably fair to say that most of Guaraldi's other original compositions haven't yet become "standards.")

All that said, if you want to make a convert of a friend not yet exposed to Vince, this is a great first album to play.

Personnel:
Vince Guaraldi -- piano
[See original recordings for sidemen]

Track listing:
"Autumn Leaves"
"Cast Your Fate to the Wind"
"Corcovado"
"The Days of Wine and Roses"
"Fascinating Rhythm"
"The Girl from Ipanema"
"Greensleeves"
"Moon River"
"On Green Dolphin Street"
"Since I Fell for You"
"Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise"
"Willow Weep for Me"

Guaraldi compositions:
"Cast Your Fate to the Wind"

"The Definitive Vince Guaraldi" ***** Vince Guaraldi No LP release Fantasy FAN-31462 Released October 6, 2009

Once again, although this two-CD set is the best Guaraldi retrospective produced thus far, it more properly should be titled The Definitive Fantasy Years. Because this Concord/Fantasy release is label-specific, it doesn't include any tracks from Vince's three Warner Bros. albums or his self-produced collaboration with the San Francisco Boys Chorus. Given how much Guaraldi's style changed during this later period, a truly "definitive" collection obviously should include some examples.

That said, this set superbly covers Guaraldi's recording career -- as a leader of his own combo -- from 1955 through 1965. (All these tracks derive from Guaraldi's own albums, as opposed to the considerable recordings on which he can be found as a member of somebody else's band.) We get a nice sense of his early songwriting skills, starting with "Calling Dr. Funk" -- the first track on the first disc, and the earliest recording here -- and "Fenwyck's Farfel." And, of course, there's plenty of material from the career-changing Black Orpheus album, which introduced "Cast Your Fate to the Wind." The Peanuts years also are well represented, with eight tracks that include the lesser-known "Oh, Good Grief" and "The Great Pumpkin Waltz," along with the ubiquitous hits: "Linus and Lucy," "Christmas Time Is Here" and "Skating."

It's fun to trace the evolution of Guaraldi's sound, from the unusual configuration of his original trio -- with Eddie Duran and Dean Reilly on guitar and bass, respectively -- to the "classic" Black Orpheus and early Peanuts trio (Monty Budwig and Colin Bailey, on bass and drums, respectively) and the introduction of the bossa-nova influence that turned the band into a quartet, with Bola Sete (guitar), Budwig (bass) and Nick Martinez (drums). As opposed to the recently released Essential Standards compilation, the tracks here are in chronological order, so the listener gets a strong sense of how Guaraldi moved from one style to the next.

It is curious, however, that this two-CD set has been released less than four months after Concord's aforementioned Essential Standards ... and somewhat irritating that they overlap so much.

Finally, this set is sweetened by the presence of two previously unreleased tracks, starting with a wonderfully long (more than 10 minutes!) version of "Autumn Leaves." This standard originally was recorded on Guaraldi's A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing album, with Duran and Reilly; this much longer version is with Budwig and Bailey. And Guaraldi's Peanuts fans will pounce on the second new track, "Blues for Peanuts," which is -- yes, it truly is! -- a never-before-released theme. It apparently was left behind during the recording session that produced the original A Boy Named Charlie Brown album, containing Guaraldi's music from the never-televised 30-minute documentary that Lee Mendelson made in 1963. Snatches of this track can be heard during that documentary, shortly after the three-minute mark, as the character of Schroeder is introduced. (The documentary is available for purchase exclusively from the Charles M. Schulz Museum's Web site.) As far as Guaraldi's Peanuts fans are concerned, the presence of this cue alone will justify the purchase of this set.

The only remaining mystery is which descriptive word Concord/Fantasy will employ if the label releases another collection. 2009 alone saw the terms "essential" and "definitive" used. What's left?

Personnel:
Vince Guaraldi -- piano
[See original recordings for sidemen]

Track listing:
"Autumn Leaves"
"Blues for Peanuts"
"Calling Dr. Funk"
"Cast Your Fate to the Wind"
"Charlie Brown Theme"
"Christmas Is Coming"
"Christmas Time Is Here"
"Corcovado"
"The Days of Wine and Roses"
"El Matador"
"Fascinating Rhythm"
"Fenwyck's Farfel"
"A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing"
"Ginza Samba"
"The Girl from Ipanema"
"Great Pumpkin Waltz"
"Jitterbug Waltz"
"Linus and Lucy"
"Manha de Carnaval"
"Moon River"
"Mr. Lucky"
"Never Never Land"
"Oh, Good Grief"
"On Green Dolphin Street"
"Samba de Orfeu"
"Skating"
"Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise"
"Star Song"
"Thanksgiving Theme"
"Theme to Grace" "The Work Song"

Guaraldi compositions:
"Blues for Peanuts"
"Calling Dr. Funk"
"Cast Your Fate to the Wind"
"Charlie Brown Theme"
"Christmas Is Coming"
"Christmas Time Is Here"
"El Matador"
"Fenwyck's Farfel"
"Ginza Samba"
"Great Pumpkin Waltz"
"Linus and Lucy"
"Oh, Good Grief"
"Skating"
"Star Song"
"Thanksgiving Theme"
"Theme to Grace"

"Peanuts Portraits" **** Vince Guaraldi No LP release Fantasy FAN-32033 Released April 20, 2010

Fantasy's fourth collection of Guaraldi's Peanuts music is a blend of the old and the new, although at first blush these 11 tracks will seem quite familiar. After all, the album opens with the same classic rendition of "Linus and Lucy" that has appeared on so many other Fantasy albums, going all the way back to 1964's A Boy Named Charlie Brown.

Ah, but appearances can be deceiving. This album's two prizes are alternate versions of "Frieda (With the Naturally Curly Hair)" and "Schroeder," both of which run quite a bit longer than the versions also appearing on A Boy Named Charlie Brown. Indeed, this take of "Frieda" is magnificent: two full minutes longer than what we've heard before, which gives Guaraldi and his trio much more room to stretch.

This album's engaging "gimmick" is that each track relates to a specific Peanuts character (hence the title, Peanuts Portraits). Charlie Brown is represented by two variations on the blues laments that Guaraldi noodled with during his all-too-brief career as the Peanuts gang's composer of choice, never playing them quite the same way twice, while Peppermint Patty has a quieter version of her own theme (much gentler than the rousing anthem heard on the Warners album Oh, Good Grief!), and so forth.

Unfortunately, that same concept limited what could be placed on such an album. (Characters such as Marcie and Franklin never received their own Guaraldi themes, for example.) That contributes to this collection's sole note of disappointment: It's rather short, at just a few minutes more than half an hour.

This album's versions of "Joe Cool" and "Little Birdie" previously appeared on Dave Guaraldi's Lost Cues compilations, and the final two tracks are solo piano covers by George Winston of "The Masked Marvel" and "Linus and Lucy," taken from his 1996 album of Guaraldi music, Linus and Lucy.

Alas, the album also gets a few cue titles wrong. Track 2, although identified as "Sally's Blues," is something entirely different ... and we're not sure what. (The actual "Sally's Blues" appears on Volume 2 of the Lost Cues album, and a quick comparison proves that they're not the same.) Track 3, although identified as "Blue Charlie Brown," actually is "Is It James or Charlie," also on Volume 2 of Lost Cues. Finally, track 5, incorrectly dubbed "Charlie's Blues," actually is the title theme from the TV special Play It Again, Charlie Brown, also known as "Charlie Brown Blues" (see above); this version can be recognized as an alternate take of the song given different "blues" titles on both Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits and Oaxaca.

This CD's extensive liner notes are once again by Site Master Derrick Bang, who was quite surprised when his lengthy character studies of Charlie Brown and his friends were used intact. (He had no control over the incorrect track listings this time, so please don't blame him!) With the added appeal of Charles Schulz's classic character art and Andrew Pham's really nice layout and package design, the resulting 16-page booklet is a lot of fun.

Personnel:
Vince Guaraldi -- piano
Tom Harrell -- trumpet
Chuck Bennett -- trombone
Monty Budwig, Seward McCain -- bass
Colin Bailey, Mike Clark -- drums

Track listing:
"Charlie Brown Blues" [identified as "Charlie's Blues"]
"Frieda (With the Naturally Curly Hair)"
"Is It James or Charlie" [identified as "Blue Charlie Brown"]
"Joe Cool"
"Linus and Lucy"
"Little Birdie"
"The Masked Marvel"
"Peppermint Patty"
"Schroeder"
Unknown track [incorrectly listed as "Sally's Blues"]

Guaraldi compositions:
All of them

"An Afternoon with the Vince Guaraldi Quartet" ***** Vince Guaraldi No LP release VAG Publishing VAG1121 Released November 2011

As the summer of 1967 concluded, Guaraldi accepted a two-week engagement at the Old Town Theatre in Los Gatos. His band for this gig featured Eddie Duran on guitar, Andy Acosta on bass, and Al Coster on drums. The sessions on this CD were recorded live during several of those performances, which took place October 17-29.

The set list reflects what had become a transitional period in Guaraldi's career. Although still willing to perform selections from the Great American Songbook, he was equally aware of the rising influence of pop and rock. Thus, he delivers a sassy, up-tempo cover of Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe," which had become a No. 1 hit only a few months earlier. Listen for the smooth guitar licks that introduce this arrangement; at this point, a decade after being part of the original Vince Guaraldi Trio, Duran had gotten even more adept at his instrument.

Another track -- a luxuriously languid cover of the Antonio Carlos Jobim/Ray Gilbert/Vinicius DeMoraes ballad, "Once I Loved" -- evokes the American craze for bossa nova that Guaraldi helped ignite with his 1962 album, Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus.

You'll also hear a whimsical arrangement of "Going Out of My Head," along with the title theme from the 1960 film Exodus; check out Duran's smoking guitar introduction to the latter.

And, of course, no Guaraldi performance would be complete without his personal standards. Never content to play even his own hits the same way twice, Guaraldi positively roars through a vibrant arrangement of "Linus and Lucy," which kicks into a surprise harmonic coda just as listeners would have expected the song to conclude. Prior to that point, Acosta and Coster lay down some tasty rhythmic support during the bluesy bridges.

"Cast Your Fate to the Wind" earns the showcase spot as the concert closer, drawing applause the moment Guaraldi begins the familiar left-hand vamp. Coster and Acosta truly rip into this arrangement, laying down an almost dirty, swinging beat that Guaraldi exploits to terrific advantage with some extemporaneous keyboard noodling. Duran takes an equally inventive solo, then the tempo increases slightly as all four musicians build to a vibrant, crowd-pleasing conclusion. Listen closely, at this point, and you'll hear Guaraldi introduce his sidemen and then thank the crowd.

One minor caveat, alas: The second disc's fourth track is not "Autumn Leaves," as claimed. The good news is that it's a marvelous piece of music. The bad news is that we've never been able to identify it (so if somebody out there recognizes it, please tell me!).

These recordings represent Guaraldi at the top of his "classic" form, mere months before he'd begin heavy experimentation with the electronic keyboards that would take him on a fusion-laced detour for the next several years.

The CD packaging is impressive, with an eight-sided gatefold that includes plenty of vintage photos and a lengthy essay by Guaraldi biographer (and author of this page) Derrick Bang.

Personnel:
Vince Guaraldi -- keyboards
Eddie Duran -- guitar
Andy Acosta -- bass
Al Coster -- drums

Track listing:
"Ode to Billie Joe"
"Going Out of My Head"
"Eleanor Rigby"
"Nobody Else"
"Theme to Exodus"
"Linus and Lucy"
"Once I Loved"
Unknown track [incorrectly listed as "Autumn Leaves"]
"Cast Your Fate to the Wind"