Vince Guaraldi

Guaraldi was born in San Francisco's North Beach area, a place that became very important to his blossoming musical career.[2] His last name changed to "Guaraldi" after his mother, Carmella (née Marcellino), divorced his biological father (whose last name was Dellaglio) and married Tony Guaraldi, who adopted the boy.[1] His maternal uncle was musician, singer, and whistler Muzzy Marcellino. He graduated from Lincoln High School, attended San Francisco State College, and served in the United States Army as a cook in the Korean War.

Guaraldi's first recording was made in November 1953 with Cal Tjader and was released early in 1954. The 10-inch LP record was called The Cal Tjader Trio, and included "Chopsticks Mambo", "Vibra-Tharpe", and "Lullaby of the Leaves". By 1955, Guaraldi had his own trio with Eddie Duran and Dean Reilly. He then reunited with Tjader in June 1956 and was an integral part of two bands that the vibraphonist assembled. The first band played mainly straight jazz and included Al Torre (drums), Eugene Wright (bass) and Luis Kant (congas and bongos). The second band was formed in the spring of 1958 and included Al McKibbon (bass), Mongo Santamaría (congas and bongos) and Willie Bobo (drums and timbales). Reed men Paul Horn and Jose "Chombo" Silva were also added to the group for certain live performances and recordings.

Guaraldi left the group early in 1959 to pursue his own projects full-time. He might have remained a well-respected, but minor jazz figure had he not written an original number to fill out his covers of Antonio Carlos Jobim/Luis Bonfá tunes on his 1962 album, Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus, inspired by the French/Brazilian film Black Orpheus. Fantasy Records released "Samba de Orpheus" as a single, trying to catch the building bossa nova wave, but it was destined to sink without a trace when radio DJs began flipping it over and playing the B-side, Guaraldi's "Cast Your Fate to the Wind". A gentle, likeable tune, it stood out from everything else on the airwaves and became a grass-roots hit and won the Grammy for Best Original Jazz Composition. While "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" by Guaraldi achieved modest chart success as a single in 1963, a cover version two years later by British group Sounds Orchestral cracked the Billboard top 10 (in the spring of 1965). Guaraldi never minded taking requests to play it when he appeared live. "It's like signing the back of a check", he once remarked. He also said, "I want to write standards, not just hits."[3]

Guaraldi then recorded an album called Vince Guaraldi, Bola Sete and Friends with guitarist Bola Sete, Fred Marshall (bass) and Jerry Granelli (drums). This began a period of collaboration between Guaraldi and Sete where Guaraldi began experimenting with bossa nova-influenced music as well as with the electric piano. This experimentation may have led to the loss of Fred Marshall, who left the group in 1964 citing "personal differences" after Guaraldi purportedly threw a cup of coffee at Marshall during the 17th Berkeley Jazz Festival.[4] Shortly after this time, Guaraldi was invited to compose a "jazz mass" the Eucharist chorus at the San Francisco Grace Cathedral. Utilizing his Latin influences from his bossa nova days with Sete, Guaraldi composed a number of pieces with waltz tempos and jazz standards. The performance was recorded on May 21, 1965 and released that September on At Grace Cathedral.[5]

Guraldi's relationship with Fantasy Records began to sour by late 1965 as he believed the company was withholding significant royalty payments from him. He sued in April 1966 in an effort to sever all relationships with the label, in which Fantasy promptly countersued.[6] At the same subsequent time, Fantasy executive Saul Zaentz became president in 1967, eventually buying the company from original owners the Weiss brothers in December of that year.[7] The sale of Fantasy Records to Zaentz resulted in both Guaraldi and the label dismissing the twin lawsuits, leaving Guaraldi a free agent.[6] His final album for the label, Live at El Matador, has been released in October 1966. 35 years after Guaraldi's death, Fantasy Records and its parent company Concord Music, were sued by Guaraldi's children for engaging in "a system" of "serving false and deceptive statements while underreporting units sold and underpaying royalties." Their lawsuit, filed in December 2011, claimed a private accountant uncovered a discrepancy of at least $2 million for the years 2005–2010 alone. When asked if the alleged wrongdoing goes back decades further, the Guaraldi family's attorney Alan Neigher responded, "Well, we hope it does."[8]

During the period of flux with Fantasy in 1967, Guaraldi formed his own record label, D&D (named after his children, David and Dia), and released his only album on the label in December 1967, Vince Guaraldi with the San Francisco Boys Chorus.[6]

While searching for music to accompany a planned Peanuts documentary, television producer Lee Mendelson heard a single version of "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" on the radio while traveling in a taxicab.[3] Mendelson contacted Ralph J. Gleason, jazz columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, and was put in touch with Guaraldi. He proposed that Guaraldi score the upcoming Peanuts Christmas special, and Guaraldi enthusiastically took the job, performing a version of what became "Linus and Lucy" over the phone two weeks later.[3] The soundtrack was recorded by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, with drummer Jerry Granelli and bassist Fred Marshall. Guaraldi went on to compose scores for seventeen Peanuts television specials, as well as the 1969 feature film A Boy Named Charlie Brown and the unaired television documentary of the same name.[3]

Guaraldi's final three albums released during his lifetime were recorded for Warner Bros.-Seven Arts after spending nearly two years trying to extricate himself from Fantasy Records.[9] Warner signed Guaraldi to a three-record deal in early 1968, insisting that his inaugural release consist of Peanuts material. This was done in part to fill the void left by a lack of soundtrack albums to accompany the successful television specials, Charlie Brown's All Stars!, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, You're in Love, Charlie Brown and He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown. Guaraldi responded with new renditions of eight of his most popular scores from those programs on his first release, Oh Good Grief!.[9]

Guaraldi was then given complete artistic control over his sophomore, self-produced Warner effort, The Eclectic Vince Guaraldi, resulting in an unfocused and overindulgent album that was not well received by both critics and consumers.[2] At Warner's insistence, arranger Shorty Rogers was recruited to produce Guaraldi's final album, Alma-Ville. Though deemed a focused improvement over the previous album, Warner lost interest in Guaraldi and did not promote the album, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts did not retain Guaraldi after the end of their three-record deal. Both The Eclectic Vince Guaraldi and Alma-Ville fell into obscurity, with Oh Good Grief! being a steady seller due to the perpetual popularity of the Peanuts franchise.[2]

After working on the soundtrack for the Peanuts feature film A Boy Named Charlie Brown, Guaraldi ceased releasing any new material.[2] In his review of The Complete Warner Bros.–Seven Arts Recordings, The Recoup critic Joseph Kyle lamented, "frustrated and unable to secure a record deal, he spent the remainder of his life as a live performer, recording more soundtrack material, and banking on the goodwill his Peanuts compositions earned him."[10] Guaraldi's sound also evolved into a more fusion jazz/rock sound, as he largely traded the piano for Hammond B-3 and Fender Rhodes electric keyboards. His live performances included musicians that specialized in funk and soul as well as traditional jazz.[11] Posthumous releases Oaxaca (recorded in 1971) and Live on the Air (recorded in February 1974) feature live performances recorded during this period of transition.[11][2]

All Peanuts soundtracks scored after Play It Again, Charlie Brown (1971) feature Guaraldi favoring electric keyboards over traditional piano as well. You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (1975), Guaraldi's penultimate music score, fused his fusion jazz style with the funk, disco and pop music that was popular at the time coupled with the use of the ARP String Ensemble synthesizer.[2]

Guaraldi died at age 47 on February 6, 1976.[12] The evening before, he had dined at Peanuts producer Lee Mendelson's home and was reportedly not feeling well, complaining of indigestion-like chest discomfort. The following evening, after concluding the first set at Butterfield's Nightclub in Menlo Park, California, with his interpretation of the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby", Guaraldi and drummer Jim Zimmerman returned to the room in which they were staying that weekend at the adjacent Red Cottage Inn, to relax before the next set. Zimmerman commented, "He was walking across the room and just collapsed. That was it." His cause of death has been variously described as a heart attack or an aortic aneurysm. Guaraldi had just finished recording the soundtrack for It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown earlier that afternoon.

Guaraldi's death was a blow to his colleagues. "It was totally unexpected", said Mendelson. "The day of his funeral, they played the Charlie Brown music over the sound system in the church. It was not an easy day; he was so young. It was one of the saddest days of my life. He was up to my house the night before [his death], and said he had not been feeling well, and didn't know what it was." Peanuts animator Bill Meléndez added, "He was a real good guy and we miss him."[13] He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma, California.

Guaraldi married high school girlfriend Shirley Moskowitz on February 1, 1953; they divorced on December 8, 1970.[14] The union produced two children: David Anthony Guaraldi (b. August 11, 1955) and Dia Lisa (b. February 16, 1960).[2] Guaraldi also had a long-term affair with Gretchen Glanzer, with whom he appeared on the cover of his 1964 album, The Latin Side of Vince Guaraldi.[14]

A book-length biography of Guaraldi was published in March 2012. Vince Guaraldi at the Piano, by author and Guaraldi archivist Derrick Bang, chronicles Guaraldi's career and role in the Northern California jazz scene, and also includes a complete discography and filmography, as well as an appendix of quotations from Guaraldi's former sidemen.[2]

Some of Guaraldi's Peanuts compositions have been recorded by Dave Brubeck, Wynton Marsalis, and other jazz musicians.

Jazz musician David Benoit has often credited Guaraldi and the original Peanuts Christmas special music for his interest in jazz.[15] In 1985, Benoit recorded a cover of Guaraldi's "Linus and Lucy" for an album called This Side Up, which enjoyed considerable radio airplay and helped launch the smooth jazz genre. He released "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" on the album Waiting for Spring in 1989.

Pianist George Winston released a Guaraldi tribute album in 1996 titled Linus and Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi.[16][17][18] Winston performed many Peanuts songs that had not been released by Guaraldi. "I love his melodies and his chord progressions", Winston said of Guaraldi. "He has a really personal way of doing voicings."[19] The album was very successful, leading Winston to record a follow-up, titled Love Will Come: The Music of Vince Guaraldi, Volume 2, released in early 2010.[20] In 2003, a live performance of the eight-part "Charlie Brown Suite" was released on the album The Charlie Brown Suite & Other Favorites.

In his review of The Definitive Vince Guaraldi (2009), All About Jazz critic David Rickert credited Guaraldi for introducing many to the world of jazz music "before we even knew what it was. [Guaraldi]'s soundtracks for the Peanuts television specials were a novel idea in cartoon scoring, yet seemed to perfectly fit the deceptively sophisticated adventures of Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang. His originals were some of the best jazz to come from the West Coast scene and a tribute to what can happen when a great muse hits a gifted composer."[21]

• Vince Guaraldi on IMDb
• Vince Guaraldi on LP and CD (complete discography)
• Vince Guaraldi biography and discography at FiveCentsPlease
• "Vince Guaraldi at the Piano" by Derrick Bang (ISBN 978-0-7864-5902-5) The definitive musical biography of Vince Guaraldi, published March 2012.
• March 2015 radio interview (KDRT program "Davisville") with David Willat, who as a child sang on A Charlie Brown Christmas and At Grace Cathedral + Guaraldi author Derrick Bang
• Vince Guaraldi at Find a Grave