Product Details

• Published on: 2006-06-13
• Released on: 2006-06-13
• Running time: 0 seconds

Customer Reviews

Peanuts Christmas Jazz Masterpiece
I really don't think any Christmas music collection could be complete without this soundtrack. When I think back of my childhood and watching the Charlie Brown Christmas Special on CBS during the holidays, I can't help but remember the warm feeling that Vince Guaraldi's arrangements instilled in me while watching the special. Looking back now, I also think that this soundtrack music was my first memorable exposure to jazz and probably set the stage for my musical appeal to instrumental jazz. "Christmas Time is Here" has become a Holiday jazz standard and has been re-recorded by a number of jazz vocalists but my personal favorite is "Skating". This is the Tao of Christmas. You can't help but lose yourself in the meditative freedom expressed in this arrangement, like the Peanuts characters in the movie, gliding so freely, smoothly and gracefully on the frozen pond in the pristine greyness of winter.

If you grew up watching the Peanuts during Christmas, this CD takes you back to that place in your childhood Christmas heart.

What Christmas is all about (for me)
A Charlie Brown Christmas is one of the few Christmas shows that actually got it right. The music that Vince Guaraldi recorded for it has taken on a life of its own. Christmas Time Is Here has become a standard now and deserves to be. Sadly, Vince left us in the mid 70's before the cartoon and the music really became a cherished classic and I hope he knows how special this recording is to me and many, many others. Skating is like a 3 minute trip to another world and his version of The Christmas Song is among my top 3 favorite versions. This is the most relaxing beautiful Christmas music you could ever want to hear. You can forget about the overblown tripe that the so called "music elite" puts out now, this is the real deal.

And please, everyone remember Charles Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts gang, in your prayers tonight. He was recently diagnosed with cancer and needs our support. Get well soon Sparky.

Put 5 stars for Guaraldi on the top of Charlie Brown's tree
It wasn't only the wonderful humor of Charles Schulz and the adorable child voices that made "A Charlie Brown Christmas" such an enduring holiday favorite. The score by Vince Guaraldi was sophisticated and sensitive and stands alone as one of the best holiday albums ever. Frankly, we play it all year long, yes, Christmas in July or June or whenever.)

The original compositions ("Skating", "Linus and Lucy", "Christmas is Coming") are brilliant, quirky and humorous, yet are far from childish. They are jazz compositions of real merit, and Guaraldi must have been a true "Peanuts" fan because he really was able to interpret Schulz's characters in musical form.

The score also has Guaraldi's interpretations of favorite Christmas carols. In "Greensleeves" in particular, you can hear how Guaraldi flavors this English classic with snippets of the Charlie Brown music--very clever and makes the score hang together as a unit and not just a patchwork of holiday tunes.

Sometimes the sound is a bit fuzzy on this recording (made originally in 1965), but that doesn't detract much from the pure pleasure of the score. This is a CD we play frequently and I must say, it never palls. I hear new things every time.