Download Free Vince Guaraldi Songs

Vince Guaraldi music biography continued...

July 17, 1928 in San Francisco, California, Guaraldi came up through the beatnik-era San Francisco music scene of the 1950s, eventually forming a succession of jazz trios. His 1962 recording, "Cast Your Fate To the Wind," was a surprise hit on national pop music charts and earned Guaraldi a Grammy in the category "Best Original Jazz Composition." The track appears on the 1962 album Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus, inspired by the French/Brazilian film "Black Orpheus," which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Picture. While searching for just the right music to accompany a planned Peanuts Christmas special, Charles Schulz (the creator of the Peanuts comic strip) and Lee Mendelson (the producer of the special) heard a live club performance of "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" by Vince Guaraldi's trio on the radio while traveling in a taxicab on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California. Schulz demanded to be taken to the club immediately and introduced himself to Guaraldi after the set. He proposed the idea of jazz man scoring the upcoming Peanuts Christmas special and Guaraldi enthusiastically took the job. He went on to compose scores for sixteen Peanuts television specials, and the feature film A Boy Named Charlie Brown.



Though much of his fame has been centered on his musical exposure with the Peanuts gang, Guaraldi continued to create magnificent jazz music on the piano well into the mid-'70s, composing and playing a variety of songs ranging from uptempo pieces and fast sambas to beautiful and majestic slower numbers. Guaraldi died of a sudden heart attack at age 47 on February 6, 1976. He was found in his hotel room, relaxing between sets at California jazz club. Guaraldi had just finished recording the soundtrack for It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown earlier that afternoon. With his compositions for Peanuts, he left behind a body of work that left an indelible mark on our pop culture landscape.