Homage to Vince

A new Guaraldi-hued album becomes available today, and you’ll definitely want it in your library.

Full disclosure demands that I acknowledge Northern California jazz pianist Jim Martinez as a friend; I wrote the liner notes for this album, and one of the tracks is dedicated to my own self. (It won’t be hard to figure out which one.) So yes, I admit to bias ... but that doesn’t make what follows any less valid.

Guaraldi has been gone for almost 40 years, but his signature themes are more popular than ever; all manner of jazz musicians have covered the “big three” — “Cast Your Fate to the Wind,” “Linus and Lucy” and “Christmas Time Is Here” — with more renditions popping up every year.

Martinez includes the first two on this album, which honors Guaraldi’s decisive musical influence on the neighborhood inhabited by Charlie Brown and the rest of Charles M. Schulz’s beloved Peanuts gang. But this isn’t a garden-variety collection of Guaraldi covers; eight of these 14 tracks are sparkling Martinez originals, all written and performed in Guaraldi’s larkish, Latinesque “Peanuts style.”

Martinez has Guaraldi’s facility for cute, clever melodic hooks that immediately sound familiar, even when heard for the first time. Better still, they’re catchy and instantly hummable, with the cheerful ebullience that always characterized Guaraldi’s performance style. You can’t help nodding in time to Martinez’s effervescent keyboard work; you also can’t help smiling.

He’s a generous leader, granting plenty of exposure to core band mates Josh Workman (guitar), Marcus Shelby (bass), and Tim Metz and Tony Savage, trading off on drums. Indeed, numerous tracks — such as Martinez’s “Chillin’ at the Warm Puppy Café” — feature engaging “duels” between Martinez and Workman, alternating vigorous solos and comping behind each other. (The title references the aptly named coffee shop adjacent to the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California.)

Workman’s deft guitar work also highlights the gentle, Brazilian-hued “Samba for Snoopy,” and the flamenco elements of the impish “Spike and the Cactus Club,” with its shifting time signatures; one imagines Snoopy’s rail-thin brother dancing with a rose between his teeth.

Shelby’s accomplished bass work powers the percussive “Bang!,” which Martinez fills with Guaraldi-esque flourishes; Shelby’s walking bass also drives the sassy “Blues for Beagles,” which gets additional snap from Lucas Bere’s smoldering tenor sax.

The lyrical “Waltz for Vince” feels very much like the style and delivery of Guaraldi’s early Fantasy albums, while “Schroeder Can Play” is a spirited finger-snapper granted plenty of swing by both Martinez and Shelby.

The band’s cover of “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” is slightly faster than Guaraldi’s version, with Martinez roaring through the lengthy improv bridge. “Linus and Lucy” also is up-tempo, with Metz’s propulsive drum work setting the stage for an initially faithful (but not slavish) adaptation that breaks away when Martinez takes the second bridge into entirely new directions. Guaraldi’s lively “Surfin’ Snoopy” is treated like a classic combo swinger, with Savage and Shelby setting the stage for vigorous solos by Bere, Workman and finally Martinez.

Martinez is equally adept at softer tempos, as with his worshipful handling of Guaraldi’s “Theme to Grace,” an interior theme from the Jazz Mass Guaraldi wrote for San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral in the mid-1960s. Workman and Martinez trade quiet, reverential solos in a manner evoking the latter’s numerous “Jazz Praise” albums. Similarly, Martinez’s “Thank You Sparky” is a hushed, heartfelt lament, with his keyboard backed solely by violin.

The album includes one vocal: a tender cover of Rod McKuen’s poignant title song to the 1969 film A Boy Named Charlie Brown, with Margie Rebekah Ruiz’s expressively soulful voice accompanied by Bere’s equally sweet sax solo and a string quartet.

The album is highlighted both by everybody’s tight solo and ensemble work, and by Martinez’s overall impish tone. Most of his original compositions are droll to begin with, and he enhances that exuberance with occasional quotes from sources as varied as Gershwin, “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and Guaraldi himself.

This album’s dexterous musicality certainly is a selling point, but — most of all — it’s fun. As with Guaraldi’s many albums, you can’t help wanting to play this one again ... and again and again.

So, what are you waiting for?

A Man Called Charlie Brown

In a brief untitled squib that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on March 13, 1964, jazz columnist Ralph Gleason mentioned that Vince Guaraldi would write the music for a TV film about Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts newspaper strip: a documentary to be titled A Man Called Charlie Brown.

The documentary eventually re-christened A Boy Named Charlie Brown, directed and produced by Lee Mendelson, never aired on television; in 1964, no sponsor was willing to bring Charlie Brown and his friends to the small screen.

Decades passed, after which Mendelson's film finally found a home — and obtained distribution — at the Charles M. Schulz Museum, in Santa Rosa, California. The 30-minute documentary regularly screens in the museum's theater; it's also available for purchase, on DVD, from the museum's online store.

Thus armed with copies of the film, inquisitive Guaraldi fans found fresh reasons for raised eyebrows ... because the documentary's musical contents don't precisely correspond with what we've all enjoyed on the soundtrack album, which Fantasy released back in 1964. Most notably, several songs — "Blue Charlie Brown," "Charlie Brown Theme," "Freda (sic)" and "Pebble Beach" — aren't in the show at all. Were they extras that Guaraldi simply tossed in, to round out the album?

Likely not.

As originally detailed in the April 1964 issue of San Francisco magazine, Mendelson conceived his film as a 60-minute special: a logical choice, given that his previous hit documentary — A Man Named Mays, which profiled baseball great Willie Mays — had been produced at that length.

A few months later, on June 9, Fantasy Records' Max Weiss issued a press release that read, in part, "A Boy Named Charlie Brown has been eight months in production, and features such notables as Bing Crosby, Willie Mays, Dean Martin, Arnold Palmer and Frank Sinatra. Vince Guaraldi has written, scored and recorded the soundtrack, and Fantasy Records is readying an album of the original soundtrack, featuring Guaraldi and his trio."

Bing Crosby? Arnold Palmer? Frank Sinatra?

Folks who own the DVD know full well that they're nowhere to be seen. So ... what happened?

The Schulz Museum Guaraldi Extravaganza

I tend to be cautious with my anticipation, having found that modest expectations more often lead to pleasant surprises. This is particularly true of first-time events with plenty of variables, and such was the case with the collaborative show David Benoit and I designed for the Charles M. Schulz Museum last Saturday, November 3.

Questions abounded. Would we get enough people to fill the seats in the Museum's spacious Great Hall? Would we get too many people, leading to frustration and standing-room-only in the upper balcony? Would the acoustics be suitable for a solo pianist? Would David and I "banter" well, during the course of our back-and-forth format? And (always my most paranoid fear) would audience members chuckle in the right places ... and not laugh in the wrong places?

My wife Gayna and I arrived at the Museum shortly before noon, giving us plenty of time to enjoy a light lunch at the adjacent Warm Puppy Café. We then returned to the Museum, where Education Director Jessica Ruskin was overseeing last-minute arrangements (and believe me when I say that Jessica deserves oodles of credit for attending to all possible details). David and his family — wife Kei and daughter June — arrived shortly after 1 p.m. He and I went over a few final tweaks, having nailed down the music set list via e-mail during the previous few weeks. He had a few anecdotes to insert before or after specific songs; I adjusted my narrative accordingly. 

(Actually, he and I filled an enthusiastic half-hour trading stories about our childhoods, after discovering that he and I grew up in the same Southern California region, and that he and his family now live only a few miles from where I spent all my teenage years. Small world, indeed!)

David Benoit and his daughter, June, rehearsed their one shared number while Museum
visitors (unseen, upstairs and to the left) watched with curiosity and delight. These
proceedings also were observed by Museum Education Director Jessica Ruskin,
center left, and a Museum docent.

We then entered the Great Hall, where a tuner had just finished prepping the gorgeous 9-foot grand piano; even David was impressed by the splendor of this ebony beast. He spent about half an hour running through chords and sections from the various songs, then pronounced himself satisfied with the instrument.

Museum visitors had the bonus of being able to watch all this unfold, since the Great Hall is readily visible from various vantage points. And even when the bulk of the hall was roped off, as the rows of chairs were set up, folks in the exhibit areas on both floors were able to see and hear everything we did.

That was pretty much it, for rehearsal ... and it's equally important to note that, aside from the 15 minutes or so I referenced in the paragraph above, David and I never rehearsed how we'd "pass the baton" between ourselves, as the show progressed. I figured spontaneity would be better than getting hung up on specific dialogue.

My Guaraldi dog-and-pony show

A short entry today, mostly for the benefit of fans living in and around San Francisco's greater bay area.

I'm giving a presentation about Vince Guaraldi at 3 p.m. this Friday, June 29, at the Charles M. Schulz Museum, 2301 Hardies Lane, Santa Rosa, California. For additional information, call the Museum at (707) 579-4452.


I plan to read a short excerpt from my book and then briefly take the audience through some of the high points in Guaraldi's life and career, accompanied by a multi-media presentation that will include photographs and a few short video clips. The latter should be regarded as strong incentive to join us, because they'll be things almost nobody has seen. Fans have been long aware of the two Jazz Casual episodes Guaraldi starred in, back in the early 1960s, along with the 90-minute film Anatomy of a Hit, all made by his good friend Ralph Gleason. Indeed, many people believe that these three KQED Channel 9 productions are the extent of Guaraldi's appearances on TV or film.


Not so ... and I'll have four clips to share, from sources most folks aren't even aware exist. And no, I'll not spoil the surprise by identifying them here.


If you're in the area, then, and not otherwise occupied this Friday afternoon, take a trip to Santa Rosa. I've also invited all of Guaraldi's former sidemen who are known to still live in the area, along with other of his former associates. I've no idea how many or few will accept that invitation, but the possibility of "special guests" exists.


And if all this isn't reason enough to drop by, consider the broader smile on my face, if I know that at least a few avid Guaraldi fans will be present.

Vince Guaraldi at the Piano: The publicity machine sputters into life

Writing a book, and then getting it published, is only half the battle these days. Absent the sort of name-brand recognition granted a William Shakespeare, an Agatha Christie, a Leo Tolstoy or a J.K. Rowling, today's authors are pretty much left to fend for themselves, when it comes to marketing and promotion. And since all authors are in the same boat, attempting to row faster toward salvation at the hands of the same radio, television or Web outlets, it can be hard to rise above the tide (he said, beating the metaphor to death).

I'm luckier than some; Vince Guaraldi has become a popular topic once again, and his life is filled with the sort of engaging narrative material that generates good sound bites. I've therefore secured some nice publicity already, with (one hopes) more to come. Such appearances will be archived in this post, mostly so I have all of them in a single place, and also so that my parents can find them easily. And I dearly hope that the links here will increase in number, at least for a little while.

Yes, this is self-serving; my apologies, and I'll try not to stoop this low too often. But -- in my defense -- I've always wondered, when reading or hearing other interviews, how much "prep time" interviewers allow themselves. Do the questions suggest a level of familiarity that bespeaks having actually cracked the covers of the book? Or are we simply getting the obvious talking points?

Again, I've been fortunate; jazz radio hosts want to read the book, and I've even fared well with National Public Radio folks. The burden has been on me, then, not to recycle the same anecdotes with each interviewer. I'm working on that...

If you're curious, then, I'll try to hold your interest during these pieces...

• My first radio interview, airing April 24, 2012, on Davis, California's homegrown radio station, KDRT 95.7, "where the grass roots grow." Host Bill Buchanan prepped extensively for our half-hour chat, having made notes as he read the book: a level of dedication for which I was grateful.

• Jazz buff Kevin Kniestedt, who hosts Jazz on the Grooveyard on Seattle/Tacoma's KPLU 88.5, chatted with me for about half an hour; he deftly edited the results into this engaging podcast, which he posted on May 2, 2012.

• KXJZ 90.9, one of Sacramento's NPR stations, very generously offered me a spot on their morning public affairs show, Insight, on May 7, 2012. Emmy Award-winning Beth Ruyak, in the host's chair, led me through several good questions, concluding with one that still gives me pause: What words would I use, to describe Guaraldi to somebody who didn't know his music? That's a challenge, and I tried to do it justice.

• The following day, May 8, 2012, our local newspaper -- The Davis Enterprise -- granted me a very nice spread on Page 3: right-hand side of the page, where the story couldn't be missed by readers. Reporter Jeff Hudson clearly spent some time with the book, before walking me through an intense 40 minutes of questions; he skillfully distilled the responses into a solid story that blends personal anecdotes (mine) with plenty of good, hard information and "bullet points" about Guaraldi's career.

• All About Jazz, the Web's premiere information source for all things jazz, surprised me with an offer to post an excerpt from the book. I was pleased to comply, and on May 8, 2012, they kindly published my book's prologue, as a "teaser" designed to whet reader appetite.

• FoundSF, an historical web site devoted to sharing essays, memoirs, oral histories, personal anecdotes, photos, videos and book extracts about the life, times and history of San Francisco, California, graciously included a short excerpt from my book, which I titled "Vince Guaraldi at the hungry i." This debuted May 22, 2012.

• That same evening, May 22, 2012, the Davis radio station KDRT delighted me with another slice of publicity. Don Shor, host of the weekly show "Jazz After Dark," devoted his entire program to Guaraldi: selections by the San Francisco pianist himself, and covers by later "keepers of the flame" such as Dave Brubeck, David Benoit and George Benson. Don also mentioned my book: darn decent of him!

• Guaraldi spent his final decade living in Marin, California, where his activities were followed by the region's daily newspaper, the Independent Journal. I'm therefore quite pleased by this article/interview that ran May 25, 2012, in what once was Guaraldi's "paper of record." Longtime IJ reporter Paul Liberatore did a very nice job (and I'm pleased that he enjoyed the book so much!).

• Short but very sweet: Chris Smith, a longtime reporter and columnist for the Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, California, gave me a nice plug on June 28 for my reading and multi-media presentation that was scheduled for the following day (June 29) at the Charles M. Schulz Museum. Chris has been a kind and generous friend and colleague over the years, and I'm always grateful for the attention he pays to my various appearances in his home city. 

• A few months back, I had a lengthy and very enjoyable chat with Jon Norton, music director of Illinois State University's Jazz Radio WGLT. This resulted in three short podcasts, the first of which went live Saturday, July 7; the second followed on July 17, and the third on July 23. You can find them here, at WGLT's Jazz Next site. You also can sign up for it as an iTunes podcast here.

• Jazz journalist and historican Doug Ramsey gave the book a nice shout-out on July 15, on his Rifftides blog. If this is your first visit, be sure to poke around; you'll find a lot of great reportage.

• I spent a delightful hour chatting with DJ Alan Rock, at WUCF in Orlando, Florida, on the morning of July 17: what would have been Guaraldi's 84th birthday. Sadly, this hasn't been archived at WUCF, and could only be heard live that day.

• That same day — also by way of celebrating Guaraldi's birthday — WJSU in Jackson, Mississippi, aired a nicely edited piece from an interview I had with Larissa Hale a few weeks earlier. This piece has been posted at WJSU; scroll down to the "Take 5" button, and look for my name.

• Jeff Dayton-Johnson's lengthy, thoughtful and quite complimentary review of my book debuted July 31 at the indispensable allaboutjazz web site. I spent a lot of time at allaboutjazz, referencing biographical information about many of the music giants whose paths crossed Guaraldi's. Jeff defends his points well, and obviously knows whereof he speaks, with respect to so many other aspects of jazz in general, and Guaraldi's career in particular. I'm very grateful for the review, and I'm equally sure that it'll be the most scholarly commentary I'm likely to receive.

• Jazz journalist, author and broadcaster Bob Bernotas gave my book a nice plug in the September issue of his e-newsletter, Just Jazz, which hit subscriber e-mailboxes on August 30. (I love it when folks cite my "meticulous research." Makes all those dark hours spent at the library's newspaper microfilm readers seem worthwhile!)

• On July 16, I spent close to 90 minutes taping a session with DJ Alisa Clancy at KCSM in San Mateo, California. Alisa also interviewed Colin Bailey, Eddie Duran, Dean Reilly and other individuals who once worked with Guaraldi; the result — Vince Guaraldi: The Story of Dr. Funk, an impressive feature running close to two hours — aired at 7 a.m. (PST) Friday, September 7, as part of KCSM's pledge drive. Copies of my book were offered during the breaks, as pledge gifts. The program was so well received that it repeated at 10 a.m. (PST) Sunday, September 16. Unfortunately, the show doesn't seemed to be archived at KCSM, which is really a shame; Alisa did a superb job, and I wish more people could hear the results.

• I gave a reading and audio/visual presentation at 7 p.m. Thursday, September 13, at the St. Helena (California) Public Library; this was very much like the program I delivered to a full house at the Charles M. Schulz Museum theater, on June 29, in Santa Rosa, California. Alas, the St. Helena event was sparsely attended, although the few folks present were polite and attentive.

• I got up early on Friday, October 26, for a nice chat with Derrick Lucas, one of the DJs on WGMC, out of Rochester, New York. He got a kick out of the fact that "two Derricks" were chatting on the air (and so did I, particularly since he spells his name the same way!). The chat ran about 25 minutes, with some Guaraldi tunes sprinkled throughout, and was one of the "special events" taking place during the station's pledge break. Sadly, the interview isn't archived on the station's Web site, so I can't point you to a link.

• I returned to the Charles M. Schulz Museum at 4 p.m. Saturday, November 3. This was a truly special event; I supported pianist David Benoit, who performed a selection of Guaraldi's signature tunes. The music was blended with information and anecdotes about Guaraldi, which I supplied between songs: a bit of history, leading to a particular tune, which Benoit then performed, repeat a dozen or so times. We filled the Museum's Great Hall, and a marvelous time was had by all. I wish we could take that show on the road!

• Way back in early June, I spent a very enjoyable 90 minutes in the studio at Portland, Oregon's KMHD, chatting with operations manager Raoul van Hall. He's clearly an avid Guaraldi fan, and often plays at least one Guaraldi track during his weekly show; we covered all sorts of territory during an interview that lasted so long, that the engineer finally placed a hand-scribbled sign against the studio glass, which read "Do you really plan to use all this?" That might have been nice, but no; of course not. Raoul worked hard and edited our talk down to just shy of half an hour, and it finally aired Saturday afternoon, November 24. It was archived in the "Blog" section of KMHD's web site, and can be found here.

• Publicity went international on November 26, when I was included in a brief discussion of A Charlie Brown Christmas on Germany's Deutschlandfunk. The result is rather trippy; each time I began to talk, the first words are at regular volume, and then my voice dials back for a radio station voice-over in German. You can hear the 5-minute spot here, and read the transcript here ... assuming you read German, of course!

• Producer Simone Wienstroer was able to place a longer version of that same feature on a second German radio network, WDR5, where it aired Monday, January 28, on the program Neugier Genügt. Alas, this version wasn't posted on the Web.

That'll probably be it for the "immediately after publication" wave; things have pretty much stopped at this point. But I'm not complaining; I got a lot of publicity from quite a few sources during most of 2012. Now we'll see if the book has "legs," as they say in Hollywood. Fingers crossed!