 Vince Guaraldi Best known as the guy who did the music for the "Peanuts" specials, Vince Guaraldi was also one of the cats associated with the early bossa nova trend, mainly because of this album, inspired by the 1959 soundtrack to the film Black Orpheus. That album featured mainly Jobim tunes done by Brazilian and American jazz musicians, whereas this one is a distinctly American take on Brazilian song. Featuring two of Guaraldi's best songs ("Cast Your Fate to the Wind" and "Alma-Ville"), this is a classic jazz trio album, and very hard to dislike. Guaraldi's two originals are easily the high points of the album. "Cast Your Fate" was a huge pop hit, and it's a mystery to me why it's not as well known as "The Girl From Ipanema" or other big jazz crossover hits of the era. Probably because it's instrumental. A great song, perfectly showcasing Guaraldi's simple but infectious piano style, as well as some cool bowed bass from Monty Budwig, and almost rock drumming from Colin Bailey. "Alma-Ville," less well known, is also classic Vince Guaraldi, more reminiscent of his "Peanuts" music than anything else on the album. The great thing about Guaraldi as a composer is that he found a style he obviously liked a lot, and didn't shy away from it because it was "too basic." Most of his great songs are rooted in three-chord progressions with bluesy flourishes, yet they have a charm that escapes more complicated performers like Cecil Taylor and Herbie Hancock. Vince wasn't one of the greatest pianists of all time, but his music probably made more people happy than most of the acknowledged greats of the day. Jazz Impressions is rounded out by standards (a ruminative "Moon River," a late-night "Since I Fell For You") and four Brazilian classics ("Samba de Orpheus," "Manha de Carnaval," "O Nosso Amor," "Generique") which open the album. The trio is able to fuse bossa nova and swing, covering a lot of musical ground for only three players, thanks to some nice brushwork by Bailey and utterly solid bass by Budwig. These might be the most unheralded group in all of jazz, unregarded principally because of their simple joyousness (or joyous simplicity?) and their fame attached to a cartoon. In fact, until George Winston (bravely) released his solo piano tribute to him a few years back, mainstream audiences had all but forgotten Guaraldi. It doesn't help that he's one of the overall poorest-packaged artists currently available on CD. But it's encouraging that even people who don't know the name will still smile or break into a Snoopy dance when they hear the music. Good music will always be cherished, knowingly or not. Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus is Vince Guaraldi's Kind of Blue, a masterpiece of unique style and spirit. You can tell how much pleasure the man got from playing music, and he pays it back tenfold.
Review by Ula Falsifier |