Customer Reviews

Love Will Come: The Music of Vince Guaraldi Volume 2 (2 LP) [Vinyl]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Being a relatively new fan of Mr. Winston, I was excited to learn of a new release having consumed his other albums as quickly as possible. I have been a fan of Vince Guaraldi's music since I was a child and this was the perfect combination of two of the best pianists there ever were. I was also glad he decided to include some of Guaraldi's jazz compositions outside of the Charlie Brown stuff which a lot of people seem to overlook. The fact that solo piano music played and composed by musicians who can produce such a full sound is stunning. Easily one of my favorite albums from Mr. Winston!

Let me begin by saying that I'm a huge fan of both George Winston and the music of Vince Guaraldi.

Although I eagerly anticipated the release of Love Will Come-The Music of Vince Guaraldi, Volume 2, it left me kind of unmoved.

The playing is very good, but the music itself and the interpretations were somewhat bland. I don't hear much variety or inspiration.

I'm trying to be fair but, in all honesty, this recording fails to reach the level of excitement

generated by George Winston's Volume 1 Guaraldi CD. Perhaps other listeners will feel differently, but I'm giving this one three stars.

Being a bassoonist and pianist I am a huge fan of all instrumental music. This album was a great find for me. I have always been a fan of Vince Guaraldi and am definitely a fan of George and his new release. All of the songs on the album are awesome, my favorite tracks are Love Will Come and Woodstock. Whether you are familiar with Vince Guaraldi, a long time fan of George Winston's or just like the music from the Peanuts specials, Love Will Come is the album for you!

This album pales in comparison to Linus and Lucy, his first Vince Guaraldi album. It really has none of the subtlety, complexity, and ability to move you emotionally that the first album had. It's really sad. George Winston has eight great or near-great albums, in my opinion: December, Winter Into Spring, Autumn, Summer, Forest, Plains, Linus and Lucy, and Montana. I really believe that the reason that his playing has lost subtlety/ emotional expression is because he doesn't mic the piano for his concerts, and he does so many concerts per year. So he has to strike the keys so much harder during these concerts so that the audience can hear his music, and this has hurt his ability to play with subtle emotional expression. Actually, his second big mistake is playing in that New Orleans R&B/ Blues style. He always says that he looks up to artists like Dr. John and various other R&B type pianists, when the fact is that on his best eight albums he played the piano far better than they ever have, with so much more subtlety and expression. I hope that Montana is not the last really good album we will see from George Winston, but Love Will Come is so bad that it looks like it probably will be.

Vince Guaraldi's music, as transmuted to piano by Mr. Winston, was a delight. It is amazing for two reasons: the music was written to accompany the Charlie Brown specials on TV, and sometimes such music does not stand alone, but you don't need images or memories of the specials to enjoy this music as Mr. Winston performs. I recently read that Mr. Winston plays completely by ear, does not read or write music down on paper. So he heard the music by Guaraldi and then put his own spin on it. His own compositions are directly from his brain to the keyboard. Mr. Guaraldi and Mr. Winston are a fine pairing.

I found some of the selections quite good and others too repetitive. Guaraldi does a great job with Peanuts and Winston does a great job with Guaraldi. Somehow, a whole cd of Guaraldi by Winston got to be a bit much.

Absolutely LOVE George Winston music, and have all his CD's so when something new comes out, I get it. Nice music, and got it quickly. Will listen often and for a long time. Definitely recommend.

Thanks,

Ellen

This C.D. is great. Vince Guaraldi was a wonderful jazz artist and composer. George Winston played his works superbly.