The Piano Player and Charlie Brown: “Skating” as played by George Winston

George Winston pays tribute to composer Vince Guaraldi in his album, Linus and Lucy. All the tracks on the album, including “skating” are available from  Freegal. I had always thought of Winston as an erudite fellow in a tux, but he’s actually described as a “balding grizzly-bearded man” wearing “jeans, a plaid work shirt and no shoes.”  He reportedly sometimes breaks out a guitar or a harmonica, or plays boogie-woogie piano and invites the audience up on the stage to dance.

I like him even better now. And for a little festive, jazzy background music, you can’t do better than Winston, Guaraldi, and Peanuts.

"George Winston." Contemporary Musicians. Vol. 43. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

(Yup, I'm a librarian. I look these things up.)