Vince Guaraldi & Bola Sete - From All Sides (1965)

Blurb from the back insert of this 1998 CD reissue:

An innocuous but enjoyable bossa nova recording - stands up to active listening but very well suited for cocktail party background music. As mentioned in the reviews below, Sete often steals the show (you might do well to ignore that nonsense in the Billboard review). This album was my introduction to Sete but you can be sure I'll be on the lookout for his name now. It's not quite in the same league, but this album pairs well with albums such as Getz/Gilberto, Jazz Samba, or Wave.

Original liner notes by Ralph J. Gleason.

Reviews/ratings:

• Billboard: "The two work so well together that it's often difficult to distinguish the piano from the guitar sounds."
• CashBox: "The set is an unusual and extremely brilliant one"
• Downbeat (★★★½): "Guaraldi does all right but Sete does even better, and the listener gets the benefit of a rising parlay."
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★½
• The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide (1985): ★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: Bossa versions of everything from Mozart's 40th symphony (Choro) to the most famous bossa tune (The Girl From Ipanema) to a pop standard of the mid-'60s (A Taste Of Honey) to some Guaraldi retreads (Ginza Samba & Menino Pequeno Da Bateria) plus some originals. My favorite of the originals is track 6, Ballad Of Pancho Villa. A fine mix.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

Perfect.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #23

Tracks: The jazzed-up carols (O Tannenbaum, What Child Is This, The Christmas Song) and Peanuts originals (Christmas Time Is Here, Skating, and the classic Linus and Lucy) create a joyous and festive meditation for the season. Heck, even listening to the kids belting out Hark, The Herald Angels Sing or "Schroeder" playing an excerpt from Beethoven's Für Elise reminds me of the TV special and puts me in a good mood. If this isn't my favorite Christmas album, it's certainly in the discussion. In this house, this CD is required listening every year.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Cold winter nights in West Texas in the late '60s/early '70s, eagerly waiting for the one night each year when A Charlie Brown Christmas was broadcast on CBS. I know I can buy it on Blu-Ray now, but it's just not the same, is it?

Exclusive CD longbox photo courtesy of
Dirk Digglinator of the Hambonian Archives.

A quick shout out to my best friend from childhood, Charlie Brown. That's me on the left and Charlie on the right, 1972.

George Winston - Linus & Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi (1996)

This solo piano CD is a tribute from one great pianist to another. It does a great job capturing the musical essence of both men. While I was familiar with Guaraldi's work from the Peanuts cartoons, this CD introduced me to more his compositions. Guaraldi usually performed with a trio (piano, bass, drums), so these solo piano recordings sometimes seem like they're missing a little something, but Winston's style and virtuosic playing often makes up for it. Every now and then, I'll notice Winston throwing in some embellishment or passing tones and it always works; it sounds like it's always been there. Winston, however, never sacrifices Guaraldi's characteristic piano voicing. Classic. Winston recorded and released a second volume of Guaraldi tunes in 2010, entitled Love Will Come, but I haven't heard any of that music yet.

Billboard, October 12, 1996

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #55
• CashBox Jazz: #1

Tracks: Linus & Lucy is classic, of course, as is any of the music from the 16(!) Peanuts cartoons that Guaraldi scored before his death in 1976. The CD starts off with one of my fav Guaraldi compositions, Cast Your Fate to the Wind, which I think you would probably recognize even though it was never in a Charlie Brown cartoon.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: In the late '90s, my friend Scott introduced me to this CD, which he couldn't praise enough. When I finally picked up a used copy, I was upset that I hadn't purchased it earlier.