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Vince Guaraldi Trio (album)

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Vince Guaraldi Trio
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 1956
RecordedApril 1956
StudioFantasy Recording Studios, San Francisco, California[1]
GenreJazz
Length37:39
LabelFantasy
Vince Guaraldi chronology
Modern Music from San Francisco
(1956)
Vince Guaraldi Trio
(1956)
A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing
(1958)

Vince Guaraldi Trio is the debut studio album by American jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi (credited to the Vince Guaraldi Trio), released in the US by Fantasy Records in September 1956. It was recorded in San Francisco, California, in April 1956.[1]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Billboard(favorable)[3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz[1]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[4]
Five Cents Please[5]

The Penguin Guide to Jazz commented on the "mild, unambitious variations on standards" and suggested that Duran was more prominent than Guaraldi.[1] AllMusic reviewer Scott Yanow wrote that the pianist "swings lightly and with subtle creativity".[2]

Billboard wrote a positive review, “Altho [sic] sales are unlikely to be spectacular, this is one of the pleasant surprises of the month. Guaraldi is a young San Francisco pianist who has been getting rave notices with the Woody Herman band. Evidence here says he’s a tasteful, authoritative and facile modernist, and that he swings. Further, he has a sense of humor. Guitarist Eddie Duran and bassist Dean Reilly are worthy colleagues. Try their version of John Lewis' 'Django' for a real delight.”[3]

The DownBeat critic was equally enthusiastic, with a 4-star review that read, in part, “In an era when too many jazz pianists limit themselves to a narrow range of moods and skills, San Franciscan Guaraldi is an expanding pleasure to hear. A jazzman with deep roots in his language, Vince projects clearly an individual musical personality: direct, emotional, inventive, tied-to-no-school. [He] is a man of wide-ranging sensitivity.”[6]

Guaraldi historian and author Derrick Bang noted that the "absence of drums contributes to the album's quieter sound, and Guaraldi displays none of the Latin-influenced touch that later would consume him, and very little of the energetic chops he delivered while working with the Woody Herman and Cal Tjader bands."[5]

Track listing

[edit]
Side One
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Django"John Lewis4:57
2."Fenwyck's Farfel"Vince Guaraldi4:05
3."Never Never Land"4:15
4."Chelsea Bridge"Billy Strayhorn3:39
5."Fascinating Rhythm"2:45

Personnel

[edit]

Adapted from album's original vinyl rear cover sleeve.[7]

Vince Guaraldi Trio
Additional
[edit]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 614. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  2. ^ a b Yanow, Scott. "Vince Guaraldi Trio: Vince Guaraldi Trio". AllMusic. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Reviews and Ratings of New Popular Albums: The Vince Guaraldi Trio" (PDF). Billboard. September 26, 1956. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
  4. ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. U.S.: Random House/Rolling Stone. pp. 90. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  5. ^ a b Bang, Derrick. "Vince Guaraldi on LP and CD: Vince Guaraldi Trio". fivecentsplease.org. Derrick Bang, Scott McGuire. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Album Reviews: The Vince Guaraldi Trio". DownBeat. October 17, 1956. pp. 23–24.
  7. ^ Vince Guaraldi Trio at Discogs (list of releases)