Rating:
Genre:
Jazz
Release Date: 01/18/2005
Though
Guaraldi had a little over six more years to live, this was his last commercial release; thus one must rely upon memories of the
Peanuts specials for his considerable musical growth during the '70s (particularly in his airborne use of
electronic keyboards). This time, producer
Shorty Rogers imposed some discipline upon
Guaraldi's increasingly eclectic pursuits and pulled an engaging straight
jazz album from him, where the focus is primarily on his melodic swinging piano work in his usual
mainstream and
Latin grooves. The sidemen include many of
Guaraldi's colleagues from the
Fantasy days and top-flight guests, with the pungent guitar of
Herb Ellis featured most prominently, and
Guaraldi even takes a rudimentary electric guitar solo himself on
"Uno y Uno." Curiously, not a word about
Guaraldi's
Peanuts scores -- his primary activity at the time -- is mentioned in the liner notes (deliberately, no doubt), and the only hint of a connection is the leadoff tune,
"The Masked Marvel." Alma-Ville became available again in 2005, courtesy of the Wounded Bird label.
~Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
;)
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