For me, Christmas Time is Here is the greatest Christmas song of all time, because it captures the melancholy and nostalgia of the season. So much Christmas music is (or at least attempts to be) relentlessly cheerful, but Guaraldi didn’t shy away from the fact that the holidays are an incredibly complex time emotionally for people, even at a young age. The song resonates on such a deep emotional level
Add to that that it's right in the middle of winter, the season of death. I feel like Guaraldi really keyed into the heart of the season as well as the holiday with all those falling motives and dissonances. Almost entirely unique in the modern Christmas music canon, as far as I'm aware.
It really sounds like it was made to be played in front of a fire place while a snow storm is blustering outside, shaking the whole building. I'm not a huge fan of the dominant dissonance throughout the piece but I totally get why you and many others love it, you described it perfectly.
Part of that is definitely due to the theme of the Charlie Brown show itself - Charlie is feeling down, while everyone else is seemingly happy, and everyone is telling him to be joyful. This song captures that perfectly (and the lyrics make it more explicit as well)...
@@groofay It’s not in the middle of winter, though-it’s only a few days into winter, when things are just beginning to die. The first day of winter is December 21st.
You mentioned nostalgia, which is key. For an adult listener, it brings back the magic of Christmas. But of course that magic is tinged with a bit of sadness, because now that you're older Christmas will never feel quite the same as it did when you were a kid. A big part of nostalgia is sadness brought on by the unavoidable passage of time.
Man, your videos with Charles have been so good. It feels like Jack has finally met his match when it comes to raw, wide-eyed enthusiasm, and I love that synergy between you two.
Vince Guaraldi's music so affects me that I can only listen to it in small doses. It profoundly evokes in me what the poet Wordsworth called "the still sad music of humanity..." Since I first heard this in 1965 it has touched me on the deepest level and I have recognized in it all my own sadness, loneliness, and wistfulness. No music, or art of any type, has been more affecting. THANK-YOU guys for your best episode yet, and for your erudite, yet ebullient, discussion. What a wonderful Christmas present!
I could not agree more, but luckily for me, in the opposite fashion. It evokes in me clean, still peacefulness, childhood joy, light, faith, innocence, and deeply felt love. For me, it is the soundtrack of the very essence of happiness.
…man me too I can’s listen to Vince without getting all misty…it’s like I’m smiling and crying at the same time. I am sure it’s a visceral reaction to the fact that this music was my childhood every year. I’m 59 so I got doses of Vince from like 1967 onwards…..thanks dudes for this great analysis of a great American composer/player.
Uh, before this channel blows up I hope you guys see this. This was a fantastic episode. I let my 9 year old son watch it because of your enthusiasm for the music theory side of it. I knew there would be language but we talked about it. This was so interesting to us both so you captivated a 9 year old and a 50 year old's attention. My favorite video. Thanks guys
I agree. The content is SO good. But the language will keep some people from subscribing and that’s not what you want. Especially when it doesn’t add anything to the content and, in fact, detracts.
Please never stop what you are doing, guys! It's bringing me and so many others so much joy. Also: Charles is such a great addition. Really love you guy's synergy. Much love.
I feel like one of the most under appreciated things ever is how Jazz piano for a long time was incorporated into children's media, and for how long it stuck around and continues to return in reruns and traditions. The soundtrack feels like it was opening the curtain to a culture and sophistication around music that just seemed magical to me as a kid. While I'm not going to decry current kids media, because I'm not so old as to think these elements of my childhood was the only good way to have a childhood, I really like that the evokes the sonic landscape of my childhood.
Johnny Costa was an incredible get on Feed Rogers part. You're absolutely right, I grew up on this stuff and it programmed me to appreciate and just utterly lose myself in jazz chords. I'm grateful that the nostalgia and warmth these songs brought me as a kid persists well into my adulthood. Guaraldi also did Cast Your Fate to the Wind, which George Winston, David Benoit and others have faithfully played in tribute. Like Bill Evans we lost him all too soon, but what gifts.
Also, this music was a product of San Francisco jazz scene and his work with Cal Tjader Trio. You can hear the casual and flowing Latin Mambo influence in the core of each song, which also set it apart from typical Christmas Melodies.
@@africkinamerican possibly, I know Cal Tjader also recorded an album of Bossa Nova. So maybe that’s a more accurate reflection of some of Guiraldi’s styling.
Guaraldi is criminally underrated.....Thanks for doing your part to highlight him. Shout out to some of the best recorded brushwork I have ever heard also...
really one of the best episodes so far. chris has such a great way of framing and explaining ideas, and the raw conversations and an almost group epiphany at the end was fascinating to watch
I've been waiting YEARS for a breakdown of Vince Guaraldi from music RU-vid - and all I can say is I wish you guys actually did talk all day about this album! Skating, which sadly didn't make the cut for this video, is the first song I listen to every year when the snow starts to fall. It is THE sound of snowfall for me, just as this album is THE seminal Christmas album.
Vince Guaraldi's music for CB is the best music ever composed for any animation, in my book. To see three musicians dissect it with such delight and respect makes this one of the most affirming videos I've seen on RU-vid in ages. And I live in England, where CB is _never_ shown on TV, not even at Christmas, which makes it all the more special!
God, I realize how much older I am than you guys sometimes, but don’t get me wrong, I LOVE what you’re doing here. The GREAT Vince Guaraldi, thank you SO much for talking about him. Vince had a HUGE hit with a song he wrote called Cast Your Fate to the Wind, before his Charlie Brown masterpiece. It won a Grammy for best original jazz composition in 1963(?) and I believe this was a big Billboard hit as well. Wow, was he ever great: so soulful, such a great improviser too, just as great as anyone ever was, in my opinion. I hear a big influence of Bill Evans and even Paul Bley when I listen to him. Many people around my age (late 60’s) were introduced to jazz from Miles’ Kind of Blue and I heard someone say so beautifully, forget who, that even as a kid they knew that this music represented their first gateway to adult emotions and feelings.. I think Charlie Brown’s Christmas captures this so magnificently as well; that emotional immediacy and of course that gorgeous synergy of intense musical beauty and melancholy.And doesn’t that also perfectly capture the inner turmoil of our beloved Charlie Brown too? I think kids immediately hear that and feel that as well. You guys do such a great and interesting job! Thank you. And Ryan, check out the band Mostly Kosher if you haven’t heard them. I thought they were great. And you don’t have to be Jewish to like them! (Only kidding) Happy Holidays and a Healthy New Year. We need you guys, you have to stay healthy!
It is SO therapeutic to listen to a bunch of guys who are as moved and impressed with Vince's music as I am. It hits me in ways I don't see it hitting my friends or family (even if they may enjoy it). I will say Vince had one other hit, although it's largely forgotten today: "Cast Your Fate To The Wind." It went to #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and #9 on the Easy Listening chart in 1962. If you like the Christmas album, I think you'll really like "Cast Your Fate To The Wind." It's worth looking up!
Fantastic presentation. Thank you! I just checked my phone where I have a playlist with dozens of various Christmas songs by various artists and now realize I had included only two complete albums when making that list years ago: "Christmas Island" (Leon Redbone) and "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (Vince Guaraldi Trio). Timeless classics.
Jerry Granelli is so good at varying his textures. Just watch how many times he changes sticks and techniques during "Linus and Lucy: with the Jerry Granelli Trio" here on YT
As others have said here, Cast Your Fate To The Wind is another epic song by Vince. If you guys did a Part 2 of this with Skating and other stuff I'd be super hyped. Jerry Granelli was such an amazing drummer too. Wish I knew more about the bass dude.
Yes! "Cast Your Fate To the Wind" was once of my favorite songs a a little girl! And I wanted them to discuss the rhythm of "Linus and Lucy"- I always have trouble figuring out where "1" is!!!
The music enmeshed with with the popularity of "Peanuts" when they were at their cultural peak in the mid 60's. All kids wanted to see the Charlie Brown Christmas special every single year after 1965. Their parents all watched it with them. It all became culturally imprinted on at least two generations at the same time, and subsequent one's to follow. The music sounded hip to younger people, without being offensive to parents who were born in the 1930's or 40's.
Vince is one of my, if not my absolute favorite. Charlie Brown Christmas and Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus are fantastic. Loved the discussion, thanks guys.
What is so amazing about Guaraldi's album is how bloody well it has stood the test of time. It just never gets old!! I play the entire thing every Christmas, and always will. My other favorite album is the Carpenter's "Christmas Portrait," probably the best single holiday opus ever recorded... period.
An interesting fact about Vince Guaraldi is that he was obsessed with snow, but as a San Franciscan, he never quite got to see it, which makes his Peanuts Christmas music even more brilliant. One day, San Fran got it's first heavy snow for forty years, Vince is supposed to have run out into the street, shouting "Snow! Snow! Lovely Snow!" and was beside himself with happiness. The next day, Vince had his fatal heart attack. But he finally got to see snow, and some say the snow came to take him up.. ..😪😉
I agree that this soundtrack helped deliver jazz to the masses in 1965! In fact, I got my first tape recorder for Christmas in 1970. The following Christmas, my big sister asked me to record the CB Christmas special because she loved the music so much. I don't know if I ever played her the tape, because I ended up listening to it so much, and it began a love affair I ='ve had with jazz to this day. One thing that's not mentioned about "Christmas Time is Here" is the quality of the lyrics. Lee Mendelson, who produced the special, also wrote the lyrics. As he tells it, he loved Vince's song and thought someone should write words to it. Unable to find someone, he sat down at his kitchen table one night and wrote his lyrics on the back of an envelope in about ten minutes. Christmas time is here Happiness and cheer Fun for all that children call Their favorite time of year Snowflakes in the air Carols everywhere Olden times and ancient rhymes Of love and dreams to share Sleigh bells in the air Beauty everywhere Yuletide by the fireside And joyful memories there Christmas time is here Families drawing near Oh, that we could always see Such spirit through the year. I read a book about the making of the special and when CBS execs viewed it a few days before it aired, they hated it. About the jazz specifically, they said "The music is all wrong." It's good to remember that while A CB Christmas really put VG on the map for the masses, it wasn't a one-hit wonder. He also wrote more memorable music for many more CB specials. Two of my favorites are The Red Baron theme and the Peppermint Patty theme. Check 'em out on YT.
This was amazing. I LOVED the deep dive. It's not Christmas without any of these classics. The chord and note breakdown was so interesting. Christmas time is here. (you just read that with the 'kid's choir' voice)
this is a dreamteam collab, do more! charles cornell is a huge music nerd guy and entertaining while he does it also, wonderful observation on the nature of creative genius and how people will just fucking miss them, and how being noticed and appreciated for your ability can be a fluke, it's crushing for people who make and do things sometimes but sometimes you become outrageously famous but yeah get charles cornell back for more things, he'll nerd hard about music shit and that's pretty fun for anyone who musics
This is a lovely early Christmas gift. Thanks, Charles, Ryan, Jack and Tim. By the way, Charles presence could be like an yearly Christmas tradition for the channel. Happy holidays!
Amazing! What a wonderful episode not only on the musical breakdown, but framing the cultural impact too of this beloved work. Loved this episode so much!
Such a great album. Skating always caught my ear the most, and the album through childhood led me to discovering more of Vince's work, which has been an absolute pleasure. And in turn, led me to some other music I wouldn't have discovered otherwise (especially moving into the samba/bossa realm which knew nothing about but Vince so seamlessly pulled into his own music). I could listen to this particular album year-round. It's timeless and it's just "jazzy" enough that the holiday element is almost forgotten at times. But I save it for the period of holiday music and it's always one of the first 2-3 albums I pull out every year.
This was wonderful - a deep dive into one of the all time great records. Out of many, one of the elements that I love about this LP is how it’s both deeply melancholy and almost impossibly joyous all at once, and how, no matter how many times I listen, it never fails to conjure some almost overwhelming feeling. I can’t listen to it without tearing up. Incredible.
Don't forget that Guaraldi's "Cast Your Fate To the Wind" in 1963 was a pop hit and won a Grammy Award for Best Original Jazz Composition. So he wasn't unrecognized. It was this song that inspired the Peanuts producer, Lee Mendelson, to hire Vince as composer for the series.
As far as Guaraldi just being lucky being in the right place at the right time, it was the quality and feel of his music that got him that gig to begin with. In a way the true genius was the producer that made "Charle Browns Christmas come together. As someone whose bulk of my listening isn't straight jazz, I think it's Guaraldi's sense of melody and rhythm that makes his music so appealing.
I said this before, but this is literally the best content on youtube, when it comes to reactions to music. I think u should keep doing this and experiment with different video formats in terms of length etc. These videos that u make will always be relevant, even later. The back catalog is gonna be incredible, so when this eventually blows up, people have so much to discover. I am telling you, keep it up
I have loved this music since I first heard it. It is still my 'fallback position' when I have had enough of the world and it's madness. Pop the CD (the record has long worn out) into the player and escape for a while. Thanks for the excellent video.
Thank you for doing this. The most important and special thing about music is how it makes you feel, a connection to a memory that makes you feel whole and comfortable and brings meaning to life. Vince's soundtrack is all of that. Wishing all of you the best. Stay safe and healthy
Guaraldi even said himself he wasn't a great jazz pianist, but his phrasing is intuitively jazz-like and hip. Always appropriately behind the beat as well.
Please Jack! Start this series again! Love all your episodes. You have a intelligent, interesting chitchat where i wish i was in the room with you all.
Being one of those old guys that grew up when this album was released, it's been our bread-and-butter on the platter for decades. These tunes just never gets stale from one season to the next. Your show is amazing! Finally we have an opportunity to geek out over great tunes, melodies, compositions and sonic tapestries. THANK YOU!! -Jeff. BC Canada.
I always imagine that had CBS known the staying power of this music back when it was recorded, they might have made sure the piano was better tuned for Guaraldi. Even so, as many recent auto tune A/B comparison videos have shown, “imperfect” intonation itself conveys emotion in music. Can you imagine if they transferred Vince’s playing over to a perfectly tuned and sampled Steinway how unsatisfying it would sound to the millions of ears that have the brain’s imprint of the Charlie Brown Christmas piano burned into their neural pathways?! I also think the plainness and rawness of this recording makes it sound like it’s playing in your living room on that dusty spinet piano in the corner, with the crèche scene on top, and which only gets played once a year when the family gathers around to sing carols. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
The genius of the Vince Gurraldi album is that he he took popular and well known Christmas tunes and then used them to created a jazz tone poem around the hugely popular Charlie Brown cartoons which were dealing with existentialist themes that every person struggles with. There is so Much theme and variation connected to the mood of O Tannenbaum.
Fabulous video. What set Vince apart wasn't chops - he was a musical poet. In both his composing and improvising he played from the soul - that's what touched people. The technical side of his music was a means to an end, which was communication. It should be noted that well before Charlie Brown Vince had a top 40 hit with "Cast Your Fate To The Wind", which is what brought Vince to the attention of Charles Schultz. I've always felt that a major influence on Vince was another West Coast pianist, the great Hampton Hawes. Hawes' early records on Contemporary had a major impact on Vince. If you want to hear another great piano trio album check out Hampton Hawes "The Green leaves of Summer". His version of the title song, St. Thomas and Blue Skies are absolute killers. They shared a joyful spirit mixed with melancholy (and they SWING). You even hear Vince at times playing Hawes licks. They're two of my favorites along with the great Bill Evans.
Guys, thank you *so* much for responding to the comments from the John Williams vid and uploading this extended edition!! 😁 Such a pleasure listening to you enthuse about all of this.
When Vince became well-known because of Peanuts, he was offered movie soundtrack deals and other major projects, but he loved composing and performing for Peanuts and was happy to continue without any grand ambitions. He never wanted to be a star. He continued writing music for Peanuts and doing gigs in jazz clubs in his beloved San Francisco. He wasn't better known because he didn't want to be. He just lived his life his way. He was gone far too soon.
Loved this show, guys! This is definitely THE Christmas album for me. It reminds me of my childhood and all the wonderful memories. It was definitely a gateway album for me too -- it led me to another of my favorite Christmas albums, The Sound of Christmas by Ramsey Lewis Trio, which is the bomb as well. A Charlie Brown Christmas was the only thing that kept me sane when working retail during the holidays back in high school. Anytime I got to be in charge of picking the music for the store, this was my go to. Really soothed the nerves after hearing Jingle Bell Rock or Santa Claus is coming to town for the 1 millionth time! 😁 Happy Holidays, everyone!
As a child of the 60's this is the soundtrack to my childhood Christmases. Charlie Brown specials were must-watch TV. My theory is that we watched it every Christmas on TV at a time when options were very limited and so the music was the background. When eventually this music was released as an albumn we all had to have it. Just wonderful!
I am not a musician (though I do sing choral music) and can only do the most minimal sight reading-so the tech talk is mostly gibberish to me. But you guys have me glued to every word. There’s something about watching people who LOVE something talk passionately about it, that’s just captivating, and infectious. What a great episode. ♥️ Thanks for all the great content this year!
It's so great to watch you guys fanboy over great music of all kinds. Your ears teach me so much about how to listen to music, and your enthusiasm is infectious.
I love how excited you all get. This reminds me of conversations I have with my own friends (all musicians). We can just sit there for hours and nerd out about a cool chord change or an underrated bass line. The difference is that you all are bringing a much bigger knowledge base than my friends have. Don't tell them I said that...
Ramsey Lewis was popular around the time of Vince Guaraldi....I love both of them, they both made headway in pop jazz piano trios that made it fun for kids to learn about and be exposed to "jazz" in an unintentional way, amid all the other 1960's stuff on the radio and TV at the time...they had tough competition with the Beatles and all those bands, and Motown, to be heard by young people. I met Ramsey once in 1978 playing in concert East Lansing MI home of Michigan State University where I went to Music School. He was such a nice man to take a little time to talk to young college music students for a few minutes after the concert.
As a young little musician, I thought music appreciation classes were a waste (thankfully, my small school didn't have them). In high school, the band instructor was an old big band musician who turned all 22 of us into a big band. A few of us would end up in the band room after school just talking music with Boss (his nickname). It was years later I realized we were having a music appreciation class. As I started playing out steadily, and I started digging into the bass lines and why those choices were being made, I was doing it again (as I discovered later). With my original bass lines, I find myself unconsciously going back to those lessons. 30 years ago, I would have rolled my eyes and gone past your channel. Now, I realize I really needed your channel, then. I hope your listeners include non-educated musicians, or partially/barely educated, (c'est moi) who gain the knowledge they need.
Just a small note… While Vince was under contract with the Fantasy label, he wrote and recorded the instrumental piece “Cast Your Fate To The Wind” which later lyrics were added. The song was covered by many artists back in the 60s and it predates “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. In fact, Lee Mendelson who produced the Charlie Brown specials chose Guaraldi to provide the music solely on hearing him perform this song.
I loved this episode because in my family, I was the first and only person who listened to this album. I'm the biggest jazz lover in my family, and I loved how this was a way to relax and enjoy Christmas music without it beating me over the head. Thank you so much for doing these videos; I LOVE them. Also - Charles did an episode on this same thing, but it's got different content. So much to talk about in regards to Vince Guaraldi!!
I have often said that this is not just one of the best Christmas albums but also one of the best jazz albums of all time. I also grew up listening to this, so I'm shocked that Jack didn't know that Vince wrote Christmastime is Here. I've also performed, analyzed, and nerded out over the melodic and harmonic structure of that song, so this is very much up my alley. 🤗
You guys show so much joy and dedication, it’s amazing to watch! Even though I’m not highly educated when it comes to music theory, and sometimes I lose the grip of the conversation, I love listening to people who are this driven and passionate.
As someone from England, That joy and nostalgia. That "Feeling" of christmas. Doesn't come acorss to me in the same way it does for you guys. We didn't have Charlie Brown over here (As far as im aware). At least when/while I was/am growing up so I've never heard these songs before. I think the UK's "version" of this christmas feeling would be "The snowman" by Raymond Briggs. And that christmas "feeling" people in the UK would get from the snowman definatly evokes such different emotions compared to Charlie Brown. As Charles said that christmas feeling of warmth and having a fire keeping the house warm, a joyful feeling, whereas IMO The Snowman creates a more solum emotion, its much more of a sad story and the music reflects that. It's always interesting to see how different cutures will enjoy the same kind of thing.
Well said. I think we did get Peanuts in the UK. I've got the Golden Celebration book of Peanuts strips that used to belong to my Grandad. And I've seen the Cartoons, and the animated films
We did get Charlie Brown cartoon and all the episodes in the late 70s and I remember all the jazz background music and Christmas is coming, but no additional airplay or chart entries that The Snowman got. That was a later 80s British film so got much more local attention.
One more note on Christmas Time Is Here, notice that this melody rhythm directly follows how the phrase "Christmas Time" is pronounced in at least American English. So anyone who says 'Christmas time' immediately will have signifiers of this song firing off. Genius pop writing.
Lucky enough to attend MCDS[ Jack knows} where Vince Guaraldi played an assembly for us. Our music teacher Barry Mineah, led St Pauls church choir that sang behind Vince. " Cast your fate to the wind " was a huge hit on the "pop" charts. And a good friend is Elmo Shropshire of " Grandma got run over by a reindeer " fame. He would be stoked to hear a funk version!!
