This week’s video features a piece that needs very little introduction. Written by Lee Mendelson and Vince Guaraldi in 1965, Christmas Time Is Here was featured in the classic animated television special which debuted the same year: A Charlie Brown Christmas. In the show, the piece was presented in two forms. The first version is arranged with a choir of children singing the lyrics along with a much simpler accompaniment (the version I have recorded for today’s video). The other version is more harmonically and rhythmically detailed and a bit beyond my current ability to play well enough to record.
I’ve always enjoyed the music of Vince Guaraldi, and today’s piece is no exception. Over the years, jazz artists have offered up their own interpretations of this classic. But I will always return to the original as my favorite. Add to that some of the other timeless Christmas tunes from Guaraldi such as What Child Is This (Greensleeves), Skating, Christmas is Coming. And of course we mustn’t leave out the most famous theme of them all: Linus and Lucy.
I hope you enjoy hearing this as much as I enjoyed playing it. Merry Christmas, and thank you for listening!
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