Way back in the day — seven years before A
Charlie Brown Christmas debuted — Henry Mancini’s groundbreaking jazz
soundtrack album for the TV series Peter Gunn was quite the rage. It spent well
over a year on Billboard’s Top LPs chart, won two Grammy Awards — Album of the
Year, and Best Arrangement — and prompted Mancini to release a sequel, More
Music from Peter Gunn, later that same year. Both LPs were so popular that they
spawned a unique cottage industry, when other jazz stars — most notably Shelly
Manne, Ted Nash, Joe Wilder, Ray Ellis and Pete Candoli — covered the entire
album.
Flash forward half a century, and Guaraldi’s
equally iconic 1965 soundtrack for A Charlie Brown Christmas has garnered the
same attention. It actually started with Cyrus Chestnut’s 2000 album of the
same title, and more recently has included releases by the Eric Byrd Trio
(2009) and The Ornaments (2011). Jazz pianists David Benoit and Jim Martinez
also have covered the entire album over time, although not all at once, each taking several releases to do so.
Additional examples can be found in this earlier blog post.
Additional examples can be found in this earlier blog post.
To this group we now can add jazz pianist Jose
“Juicy” Gonzales, who has presented Charlie Brown Christmas concerts for
several years now, in his home town of Seattle, Washington.
Linus and
Juicy: A Holiday Album covers almost all of Guaraldi’s score — “What Child
Is This”/“Greensleeves” was left behind — along with some apt extras. The
versatile Gonzales is ably supported by bassist Michael Marcus and drummer Matt
Jorgensen, both of whom get plenty of chances to demonstrate their own chops.
The album opens with a ferocious double-time reading of “White Christmas” that
positively roars, and offers lively keyboard and bass solos: just a taste of
further delights to come.
Given how many hundreds (thousands?) of soloists,
combos and bands have covered “Linus and Lucy,” this album’s highlight may well
be “Linus and Juicy,” Gonzales’ playful and marvelously unique arrangement of
that tune: a wild re-interpretation also highlighted by another of Marcus’
sleek bass solos. The trio’s handling of “Skating” is buoyant and lyrical;
“Christmas Is Coming” is aggressively peppy, with a terrific swing bridge
dominated by Marcus’ walking bass.
Jorgensen sets an infectious march tempo for
“Little Drummer Boy,” adding tasty percussion touches behind Gonzales’ lyrical
keyboard noodling; “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” is suitably thoughtful and
majestic. Gonzales opens “O Tannenbaum” with gentle solo piano, in a respectful
echo of Guaraldi’s arrangement, and then “expands” the tune with some delectable
swing that invites a tasty bass solo, which segues to lively byplay between
keyboard and drums.
A lengthy, 7-minute arrangement of “Christmas Time
Is Here” is properly gentle, offering plenty of lyrical improv by both Gonzales
and Marcus. Unexpectedly droll and up-tempo readings of “O Come, O Come
Emmanuel” and “Silent Night” deliver more sizzle than we generally expect from
these two reverential carols.
Gonzales adds enthusiastic but clearly untrained
vocals to “The First Noel” and “The Christmas Song,” which may raise eyebrows;
although his delivery is heartfelt, Tony Bennett and Harry Connick Jr. have nothing
to worry about. But that’s a minor quibble, given the finger-snapping “juice”
that characterizes the rest of the album. It’s a must for Guaraldi fans, and can be ordered here.
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BITS AND BOBS
December always unleashes a string of tributes to
Guaraldi and A Charlie Brown Christmas, most of which are amateur noodlings
from individuals who do little or no research, and add nothing of merit to the
discussion. But this year is far better than usual, starting with Ethan
Iverson’s scholarly piece in no less than The New Yorker.
Other items of interest:
• Michael G. Williams’ detailed history of Guaraldi, in Tribune
• Charles Mudede’s excellent feature in The
Stranger
• A short but delightful new CBC Radio interview
with drummer Jerry Granelli
• Matt Draper’s nicely assembled short YouTube documentary about Guaraldi
