Track Listing

1. Linus & Lucy
2. Buggy Ride
3. Peppermint Patty
4. On Peanuts Playground
5. Oh, Good Grief!
6. Wright Brothers Rag
7. Charlie Brown
8. Little Red-Haired Girl
9. Pebble Beach
10. Snoopy & Woodstock
11. Little Birdie
12. Why, Charlie Brown
13. Joe Cool's Blues (Snoopy's Return)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27922 in Music
• Released on: 1995-04-18
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com essential recording
Personnel-wise this is a Marsalis family affair; and how delightful it must be for both Wynton and Branford to engage the talents of so adept a family member as their father (and fellow Columbia recording artist), pianist Ellis Marsalis. With Branford on tenor saxophone, and younger brother Delfeayo on trombone, an Ellis-led ensemble features a delightful turn by New Orleans vocal treasure Germaine Bazzle on the playful "Little Birdie." Otherwise on the CD, Wynton's regular septet shares the selections on a 60-40 basis with Ellis's trio. The musical subject matter dovetails neatly with Wynton's ongoing jazz-education work with children: the selections are from the songbook of Charles Schultz's Peanuts characters, including odes to "Linus & Lucy," "Peppermint Patty," "Snoopy & Woodstock," and of course "Charlie Brown," pictured on the cover merrily engaging the jazz bass. The music is delivered with loads of humor, but lest one get the impression of total frivolity, these songs stand up solidly as jazz vehicles. --Willard Jenkins

Customer Reviews

an excellent exploration of excellent jazz classics
I have seen a number of negative reviews for this album and let me say first off that the originals were excellent songs to begin with . They were part of what made the orginal charlie brown movies so excellent. next let me say that anyone who does not see the sublime playing in this albulm is blind. I have seen reviews suggesting that that this albulm lacks key elements like "dynamic" and "swing", which is a blatent lie. Without overdoing any one effect wynton and ellis manage to capture very well the feel of swung jazz as well as what is often very subtly beautiful dynamic changes. Also I have seen people saying that it is lacking in creativity, that Ellis is simply ripping off past musicians, which is also a lie. certainly Jazz being an oral culture, imitation is an often and often vital element. without at leastsome imitation jazz would not be. It is true that stylistically often the solos in this albulm can be very similar to other works, but certainly no more so than many other jazz albulms which are not under fire for lacking creativity.

All in all this an interesting and skillful interpretation of excellent jazz standards.

For all ages!
I took this CD to my classroom, because I felt that the kids needed to hear other styles of music aside from rap and pop. The kids LOVED IT!! I had never seen kids react to music this way. They were tapping their feet, drumming on their desks and trying to hum along. This album became a regular request item. It's wonderful!!

A fun, happy album
This album is a joy. It is happy, upbeat and so enjoyable. It is a fantastic way to introduce youngsters to jazz, as the songs are catchy, and some may be identifiable to children who watch Charlie Brown and Snoopy on television. There isn't a child I know, that doesn't like this album, and for that matter too, any adult. Easily accessible to anyone, whether a jazz lover or not. You'll soon be tapping your toes along to such tunes as "Buggy Ride" and "The Wright Brothers Rag". The vocal song on here "Little Birdie" is a treat, and will soon have you singing along. Every one should have this album in their collection, it is a treasure.