Track Listing

1. Me and Charlie Brown - Cyrus Chestnut
2. Skating - Cyrus Chestnut, Jerry Goodman, Tollak Ollestad
3. My Little Drum - Cyrus Chestnut
4. Christmas Song - Cyrus Chestnut
5. Baby Dance - Cyrus Chestnut
6. F�r Elsie - Cyrus Chestnut
7. What Child Is This? - Cyrus Chestnut, Steve Gadd, Stefon Harris, Christian McBride
8. Linus and Lucy - Cyrus Chestnut, Steve Gadd, Christian McBride
9. O Tannenbaum - Gary Bartz, Cyrus Chestnut, Steve Gadd, Christian McBride
10. Christmas Time Is Here - The Boys Choir of Harlem, Michael Brecker, Cyrus Chestnut, Steve Gadd, Christian McBride
11. Me and Charlie Brown - Cyrus Chestnut, Steve Gadd, Kenny Garrett, Pat Martino, Christian McBride
12. Christmas Is Coming - Cyrus Chestnut, Steve Gadd, Kenny Garrett, Patt Marino, Christian McBride
13. Greensleeves - Michael Brecker, Cyrus Chestnut
14. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - Michael Brecker, Cyrus Chestnut

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36448 in Music
• Released on: 2000-09-19
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut knows a good thing when he hears it, and the music of A Charlie Brown Christmas, set forth so eloquently by the Vince Guaraldi Trio decades ago, is one of them. The pianist is backed here by a bevy of New York's premier session players and jazz stars: drummer Steve Gadd; ace sax players Michael Brecker, Kenny Garrett, and Steve Cole; and guitarist Pat Martino. Chestnut proves as inventive as always, playing with lighthearted wit and lyrical sophistication. He captures the whimsy of such Peanuts classics as "Skating" and the winning interplay of "Linus and Lucy," delightfully mixing it up with Martino's guitar figures. Chestnut also pays fond homage to the whole Peanuts gang with his memorable opening solo, "Me and Charlie Brown." Joined by Vanessa Williams and the Boys Choir of Harlem on "Christmas Time Is Here," Chestnut and company work their understated magic on this and other traditional fare. Somewhere, Charles Schultz is nodding his head in time to these lovely tunes and updates. --Martin Keller

From Jazziz
You may know Cyrus Chestnut from his solo recordings and work with Wynton Marsalis, Jon Hendricks, and Betty Carter, but the pianist unearths his earliest musical roots on the new Christmas release, A Charlie Brown Christmas. In high school the young Chestnut was known as the piano player who could play the Peanuts theme score, his childhood introduction to jazz. Thirty-five years after the original recordings by Vince Guaraldi, the remake by Cyrus Chestnut & Friends features American holiday classics like "Christmas Time is Here" (with vocalists Vanessa Williams and the Boys Choir of Harlem), "Linus and Lucy" (saxophonist Kenny Garrett, guitarist Pat Martino), and "What Child is This?", with vocalists the Manhattan Transfer, vibraphonist Stefon Harris, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Steve Gadd.

--- JAZZIZ Magazine Copyright © 2000, Milor Entertainment, Inc.

Customer Reviews

"That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown"
I regard Guaraldi's original "A Charlie Brown Christmas" album as rather sacred material. I listen to it regularly year-round and it represents some of my fondest memories, old and new. In spite of that high measure, I find Chestnut's revisitation an outstanding recording which is both original and somehow respectful to its namesake. Chestnut has made the piece his own, and he does so as someone with reverence for both the musical form and the spirit of Guaraldi's album. The playing is expert, but appropriately loose. Although the album explores different styles and instrumentation (the harmonica adds great character to "Skating"), it remains comfortingly coherent. I often find modern holiday recordings to be mundanely homogenous or so eclectic you can't listen from beginning to end. If you are attached to the original album and program, simply listen to the Chestnut's new composition, "Me and Charlie Brown". You will hear that it comes from the hands of a great musician who, if flipping through channels came across a Charlie Brown special on TV, would stop and watch it through to the end.

Great CD, but the original is still the greatest.
Cyrus Chestnut and Friends have done a great job recreating the old Charlie Brown X-Mas music and including some new music not presently on the original. I think the music has been put together in a fun and jazzy way, and I would reccommend it to any Cyrus Chestnut and Friends enthusiasts. But although it is this good, there is still something about Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas I like better. Even so, I would reccommend Cyrus's music to anyone out there looking for fun and exciting Christmas music.

An "old chestnut" revisited----
This stylish re-working of the Charlie Brown Christmas music is particularly poignant considering the recent death of Charles Schulz. In fact, I've heard that this was the last project that he approved prior to his death. It's just fun to sit back, relax, and let the memories of Christmases past wash over one. Watching the "Charlie Brown Christmas" special was a favorite holiday family event. Enjoy-----