{"id":41939,"date":"2010-04-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-04-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/love-will-come-the-music-of-vince-guaraldi-volume-2\/"},"modified":"2010-04-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-04-09T00:00:00","slug":"love-will-come-the-music-of-vince-guaraldi-volume-2","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/love-will-come-the-music-of-vince-guaraldi-volume-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Love Will Come: The Music Of Vince Guaraldi Volume 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThere are three composers that I have at one time or another tried to play all of their songs,\u201d pianist George Winston says in the liner notes of his 2009 album Love Will Come: The Music Of Vince Guaraldi Volume 2. <\/i>\u201cNew Orleans R&B pianist Professor Longhair, The Doors, and Vince Guaraldi.\u201d With this release, Winston tackles the music of Vince Guaraldi for the second time.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I must admit that I have not heard Volume 1<\/i> and am therefore reviewing this album out of context. Nonetheless, Winston offers us an interesting foray into the vast array of compositions from the famous composer\/pianist whose music was the score for Charles Schulz\u2019s famous television cartoon Peanuts. <\/i>Plain and simply, if you enjoy Guaraldi\u2019s music, then you will enjoy Winston\u2019s renditions; if not, then this is not the album for you.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Winston\u2019s attention to detail spectacularly captures the mood of Guaraldi\u2019s pieces. Most of Guaraldi\u2019s songs are either playful or introspective. Knowing this, Winston approaches them with their original intent in mind. Take \u201cWoodstock,\u201d Guaraldi\u2019s mantra for the little yellow bird. While appropriately lackadaisical, \u201cWoodstock\u201d has the feel of a breezy afternoon at the circus, walking aimlessly from spectacle to spectacle without any other worries. Then, \u201cWoodstock\u201d suddenly turns into an upbeat thrill-ride. Our favorite little yellow bird has found something that excites him. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Love Will Come <\/i>also provides a thorough history of Guaraldi\u2019s influences. Whether you listen to the boogie-woogie inspired \u201cYou\u2019re Elected Charlie Brown\/Little Birdie\u201d or the stride throwback \u201cAir Music,\u201d you will be treated to a wonderful concoction of history and innovation, tradition and experimentation. Of course, Guaraldi was just as influenced by his geography as he was by other musicians. Much like Fats Domino\u2019s music is indelibly tied to New Orleans, Vince Guaraldi\u2019s compositions synergize the sound and feel of San Francisco. The album cover displays a pristine photograph of beautiful green hills amidst a backdrop of the city fading into the ocean. Likewise, Winston illuminates the contrast of a laidback mountain feel with the busy mindset of big city. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Winston\u2019s attention to detail and immaculate capturing of Guaraldi\u2019s tone comes at an expense; save for some arrangement input and the inclusion of one original song (the \u201cSlow Dance\u201d portion of \u201cLove Will Come\/Slow Dance\u201d), Winston includes little of his own artistry in his interpretations. At times, I found Winston\u2019s playing indecipherable from Guaraldi\u2019s. Thinking back on tribute albums where the artist provides a new interpretation to previously established songs (most poignant for me is Herbie Hancock\u2019s Gershwin <\/i>and Joni Mitchell\u2019s Mingus<\/i>), I found myself wishing Winston did the same thing. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Winston did introduce me to some Guaraldi tunes I have never heard before. Included on Love Will Come <\/i>is the previously unreleased romantic ballad \u201cLove Will Come 2,\u201d a tear-jerking pleasure. I am also grateful that Winston introduced me to \u201cRoom At The Bottom,\u201d a beautiful, simple, and joyful piece originally released on Guaraldi\u2019s A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing. <\/i>This has quickly become my favorite Guaraldi song and I have not even heard the original! (New project: find the original recording and learn \u201cRoom At The Bottom\u201d on piano). <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Essentially, your appreciation of Love Has Come <\/i>depends on what you are looking for. As a homage to one of jazz\u2019s most famous composers, it succeeds gloriously. As an individualistic artistic work, it is lacking, although this may not have been Winston\u2019s intention. Nonetheless, Guaraldi\u2019s music has positively effected millions of people and I have an inkling that San Francisco\u2019s music scene benefits greatly from Winston sharing the love, pain, and joy that is woven into Guaraldi\u2019s musical landscape. <\/o:p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":30285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8558],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-41939","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-george-winston","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41939"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}