Details

Field of Interest

Jazz

Content Type

Music recording

Duration

39 mins

Ensemble

The Vince Guaraldi Trio

Format

Audio

Sub Genre

Piano Jazz, Soundtracks & Musicals, West Coast Jazz

Label

Fantasy

Page Count

8

Performer

Vince Guaraldi, 1928-1976, Monty Budwig, 1926-1992, Colin James Bailey, 1934-

Release Date

1965

Review

Here is Vince Guaraldi's breakthrough album -- musically, commercially, in every which way. After numerous records as a leader or sideman, for the first time a recognizable Guaraldi piano style emerges, with whimsical phrasing all his own, a madly swinging right hand and occasional boogie-influenced left hand, and a distinctive, throat-catching, melodic improvisational gift. The first half of the CD is taken up by cover versions of tunes from the Antonio Carlos Jobim/Luiz Bonfa score for the film {#Black Orpheus}, recorded just as bossa nova was taking hold in America. These are genuinely jazz-oriented impressions in a mainstream boppish manner, with only a breath of samba from Monty Budwig (bass) and Colin Bailey (drums) in the opening minute of "Samba de Orpheus"; an edited version of this haunting song was issued as a 45 rpm single. But DJs soon began flipping the single over to play the B-side, a wistful, unforgettably catchy Guaraldi tune called "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" that opens the North American half of the album. The tune became a surprise hit; Fantasy redesigned the cover to call attention to it, and Vince was on his way to fame as one of Latin and mainstream jazz's most irresistible composers. The whole album evokes the ambience of San Francisco's jazz life in the 1960s as few others do -- and such is this record's appeal that even non-jazz and non-Latin music people have been grooving to this music ever since it came out. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide

Subject

Jazz, Music & Performing Arts, West Coast Jazz, West Coast Jazz

Keywords and Translated Subjects

West Coast Jazz