![]() “Let me come down to the studio.” Guaraldi, who was not a good music reader and didn’t write down his compositions, insisted. Bang recounts the story in his book: “I don’t want to hear it on the phone,” Mendelson said. A couple of weeks later, Guaraldi called with a song idea. Mendelson tracked down Guaraldi and pitched his Peanuts show. ![]() The song hypnotized Mendelson, who, according to Derrick Bang in Vince Guaraldi at the Piano (McFarland & Company), described it as “melodic and open, and came in like a breeze off the bay.” Lee Mendelson, the producer who was the catalyst for bringing A Charlie Brown Christmas to television, was driving across the Golden Gate Bridge in 1963 and agonizing over what music to pair with the Peanuts when “Cast Your Fate to the Wind,” Guaraldi’s unlikely Grammy-winning hit, came on the radio. It partnered in its own creation, seeking out the two main voices in A Charlie Brown Christmas: the Peanuts and the liturgy. Yet it also points you forward to the home that is our final destination and puts at the center that which made it possible to unite both-Jesus’ incarnation and passion.Īlthough birthed by Guaraldi, the San Francisco Bay area jazz pianist remembered for his iconic handlebar mustache, the music has a life and energy of its own. “It reminds me of home.” That’s the genius: It stretches you back to the place you most identify as home. What some have called the most well-known jazz album of all time permeates every corner of society, adding a mystical character to even the most secular of places, a free-floating invitation to reengage with the true meaning of Christmas. The world around me falls away, revealing the harmony of the show’s final scene.Įach December Guaraldi’s album, A Charlie Brown Christmas, becomes America’s soundtrack. Linus’ words from the Gospel of Luke ring in my ears. When the bass line kicks in, I feel myself pick up the small, seemingly insignificant Christmas tree from A Charlie Brown Christmas. Notes dance around like falling snow and cast me back to my childhood. The opening chords of Vince Guaraldi’s “O Tannenbaum” surprise me in a coffee shop or store.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |