Customer Reviews

Vince Guaraldi - Greatest Hits

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For those of you who enjoy great trio jazz and Latin dance jazz, this is a great album to add to your collection. I am a huge Vince Guaraldi fan and this is the ultimate collection of his music. These songs have been taken from music throughout his long career and cover a wide variety of music genres. Though Guaraldi only technically released a couple "Latin" albums, the majority of songs on this CD are Latin-influenced. This is the only reason I would give it a 4.9 if I could. This is still a great CD, beginning to end. "Cast Your Fate To the Wind", "Treat Street" and "Samba De Orpheus" are the best tracks. It also includes 3 songs from various Peanuts soundtracks. "Blue Charlie Brown" would have been a much better pick than "Oh Good Grief" from the "Boy Named Charlie Brown" Soundtrack. Otherwise, a nice feel-good CD. A must own for any jazz or Latin fan.

A little bit of everything on this one ranging from lighthearted, aloof Peanuts tunes using your standard piano, bass, and drums(my personal favorite) to melodious latin grooves featuring a set of strings(not my personal favorite). As a Vince Guaraldi CD collector, this one I purchased halfway through completing my collection. But, I can assure you that this CD will either make a great start or an excellent finale. One aspect of Vince' musical style is that he knows how to evoke melody. Some artist almost seem like a chore to listen to, on the other hand, Vince is pure bliss.

Greatest hits is an excellent collection of the work of Vince Guraldi. This collection is a very complete. It covers his music from the Black orpheus album to his peanuts years. It has virtually all of the major tracks that guraldi is famous for. If you're a casual Guraldi fan this is just for you. More serious fans might want to buy some of the individual cd's because most of the tracks are from them. Most of his individual cd's are just as good as this collection. But that's small potatoes. There's not much more that I can say about this album that hasn't been said before except BUY THIS ALBUM!!!

Mostly relaxed vintage piano jazz. Baby boomers will recognize the "Charlie Brown" pieces, which are good in their own right, but I've heard them too much over the years. The rest of the cd is excellent- This is one to put on after a tough day at the office, as you sink into that big chair....

For anyone who is a big fan of The Peanuts, this cd is definitely worthy of a 'Snoopy Dance.' For the younger jazz lover, if you're not familiar with The Peanuts, you are in for a huge treat! This cd features a wide variety of Guaraldi's best music, giving you a little taste of everything including select songs from Peanuts movies. This is one of my favorite cds to play at dinner parties and never fails to turn into a conversation piece. Young or young-at-heart, it's the perfect addition to every music collection.

This is a great summary of the best of Vince Guaraldi's all to brief career of Jazz. From "Linus and Lucy" to "Cast your fate to the Wind" each and every song showcases the genious of sound that Guaraldi displayed. Those of you who watch the old Peanut cartoon specials will immediately recoginze the fantastic songs. But those are just a few of Guaraldi's songs, there were much more to listen to and enjoy. My favorite is "Cast your Fate to the Wind". Guaraldi has been gone for over 20 years now and he is sorely missed in the Jazz world, yet his music lives on and is still fresh today as it ever was.

The GREATEST HITS of Vince Guaraldi is awesome!! Not one song is a sleeper (if you are a Jazz enthusiast, like me). You can't go wrong with this CD. Guaraldi is the phantom pianist of JOBIM. When GUARALDI hits those ivory bars you'll forget that it's not Jobim at the piano (unless you've watched all the episodes of the Peanuts and Charlie Brown cartoons). Vince has a style of his own, but one must have an ear for instrumentation and orchestration otherwise you could almost not tell the difference between Vince GUARALDI and Carlos Antonio JOBIM. **ANGI** Update: 1.15.03

I purchased this CD after A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN, ORIGIONAL SOUNDTRACK. Still would recommend that CD first, this one second. Really enjoying this easy listening music. This is a great CD to play in the afternoon/evening for children. Enjoy!

Other than the songs from Peanuts, I don't know much about Vince Guaraldi, but this is one of my favorite CD's! You won't be disappointed.

Vince Guaraldi could play the piano alongside the best of them without ever missing a beat. His genius and creativity lead him to produce some mighty beautiful music at the piano; and this CD easily shows us how he did it.

The CD track set begins with "Cast Your Fate To The Wind." Vince plays with sensitivity and he handles subtle tempo and key changes like the pro he always was! The percussion, drums and bass help the number along--but they leave Vince's piano playing squarely in the spotlight. Awesome! "Mr. Lucky" gets the royal Latin treatment from Vince and the others as they play this to perfection. Watch out--this number is so refined, you'll want to jump up and start dancing wherever you are! "Mr. Lucky" shows how facile Vince Guaraldi was at the piano; and I like the arrangement for the strings and percussion as well.

Moreover, "Days Of Wine And Roses" already haunts me with its stunning beauty; the arrangement for guitar couldn't be better and when Vince comes in on the piano "Days Of Wine And Roses" truly takes flight! The percussion also helps to make "Days Of Wine And Roses" a number I predict you'll enjoy very, very much. How elegant! "Outra Vez" has a bossa nova type beat that is truly special; and Vince plays beautifully, never once missing a note. "Outra Vez" is another highlight of this fine album.

The CD ends with three "Peanuts" related numbers; as you may well know Vince Guaraldi did a lot of work playing piano on the number for the "Peanuts" Christmastime TV special entitled A Charlie Brown Christmas and other Peanuts TV specials as well. "Oh, Good Grief!" is a peppy, jazzy little number that features how well Vince could take a simply melody and make it sound orchestral and majestic. Wow. "Linus And Lucy" comes from A Charlie Brown Christmas; but this excellent jazzy number could be enjoyed any day of the year. Listen for Vince to flawlessly jump back and forth between tempo and key changes without the slightest bit of effort! "Linus And Lucy" also features some terrific percussion and drums to help the melody shine even brighter. The CD ends with "Christmas Time Is Here;" this number stuns me with its beauty and I'm sure you will enjoy it, too. "Christmas Time Is Here" begins with the piano and some gentle percussion; but make no mistake about it--Vince Guaraldi's piano playing remains completely in the spotlight. Vince plays this with such sensitivity and grace that he makes "Christmas Time Is Here" both an instant classic--as it was and still is--and a masterpiece. This number is a fine ending to this incredible album.

The liner notes give us an excellent color photo of Vince on the front; and we get the song credits as well. There is a brief essay by Gene Santoro.

Vince Guaraldi never failed to turn in anything except a stellar performance; and he made it sound so easy even though we know it really wasn't. We are all better off for Vince sharing his magnificent artistry with us; and hopefully Vince Guaraldi will be fondly remembered for ages to come.

Thank you, Vince! We miss you terribly!