'Charlie Brown' composer lives on in new CD

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Aug 29, 2003 | by Scott Iwasaki Deseret Morning News

I love Charlie Brown.

He's been a big part of my life, believe it or not.

I watched all the TV specials, everything from the classic "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" to "It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown" and "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving."

There was something about Charles M. Schulz's "Peanuts" comic. I related to each of the characters. And my mom said I reminded her of Charlie Brown when I was growing up.

Being a musician, I related more to Schroeder, and I wanted to be a philosopher like Linus. And being a young kid who liked to play in the dirt, I also related to Pig Pen.

Then, in high school, I was cast as Snoopy in my senior drama- class production of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown."

But it wasn't just the comic strip or all the compilation books that made me smile. There was pianist Vince Guaraldi's wonderful jazz music that highlighted each show.

A few months ago, some never-before-released works from Guaraldi, who died of a heart attack in 1976, were brought to the forefront, thanks to pianist and Guaraldi aficionado George Winston. Tapes of a rare concert, complete with string arrangements, were handed over to Guaraldi's son, David. And with the help of renowned producer Dawn Atkinson, the tapes were released on CD as "The Charlie Brown Suite & Other Favorites."

Atkinson -- who has worked with such artists as Tuck & Patti, Will Ackerman and Philip Aaberg -- was in Miami when I caught up with her by phone a couple of weeks ago. "David brought the tapes to me one day and asked me to help him get them released," she said. "I jumped at the project because I, too, had played piano for some of the early Charlie Brown specials."

She poured through meters of tapes -- "about four albums' worth" - - and was caught off-guard by the things she heard. "I always knew Vince was a great pianist, but the classical-string arrangements surprised me. I didn't know he had done anything like that."

"The Charlie Brown Suite" was taken from a live show recorded in 1968, in Mr. D's, a famous jazz club in San Francisco. The suite features the Guaraldi Trio and the Amici Della Music Ensemble, directed by Richard Williams.

In a moving arrangement, the work opens with "Intro with 'Linus and Lucy' " and moves onto the improv-friendly "Happiness Is" and "Peppermint Patty."

The head-bobbing "Charlie Brown Theme" and the lonely "Rain, Rain Go Away" set the tone for the frolicking "Red Baron" before ending with "Closing."

An encore of the trademark "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" wraps it up in a neat little package.

Two studio tracks -- " 'Linus and Lucy' with the Band" and "The Charlie Brown Theme" open this treasure of music, which, Atkinson said, was a great but challenging project. "This was the first time I worked with music from someone who wasn't living. I had to try to imagine the songs that Vince would have been happy with. I had to find the music that works by itself and lets the artist stand on his own."

And that's exactly what she did.

Through this album, Charlie Brown lives -- and so does Vince Guaraldi.

E-MAIL: scott@desnews.com