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.)

Jazzy Christmas Evening” “Christmas Time is Here” with George Winston



Photo: d3b

Most Christmas songs are peppy or sentimental, but this tune written by Vince Guaraldi and performed by George Winston is just the right blend of smooth and nostalgic.

It evokes fireplaces and hot chocolate with a touch of cinnamon. The Christmas lights are one, the rest of the lights are off, and no one is thinking about shopping or traveling.

We might be thinking of the Peanuts gang, but that’s to be expected.

The easiest way to find this one on Freegal is to do an advanced search. Put “George Winston” in the “Artist” field and “Christmas Time is Here” in the “song” field.



Halloween Tunes: It's the Great Pumpkin--Linus and Lucy by Vince Guaraldi



Photo: Kevin Dooley

 What an idea to put a jazz track with a cartoon on Peanuts animated special.  

According to this NPR article, CBS didn’t have very high hopes for theoriginal little Christmas special they were putting together. They didn’t think “jazz fit properly.” And they wanted professional actors, not the regular children that producer Lee Mendelson chose.

Fortunately for Guaraldi, Schulz, and us, it turned out just fine.