CRANFORD, NJ — Vincent Anthony Guaraldi was an American jazz pianist. He was beloved and best known for composing music for animated television adaptations of the “Peanuts” comic strip. His legendary compositions for this series included their signature melody “Linus and Lucy” and the holiday standard “Christmas Time is Here.”
Patrick Kerssen, jazz pianist and music educator, and his trio recently came to the Cranford Public Library to present “Vince Guaraldi: The Man Behind ‘Peanuts.’”
His in-depth musical analysis and live performance of the entire “A Charlie Brown Christmas” soundtrack drew a full crowd. Nearly every seat at the community center – where the Cranford Public Library often has events – was filled.
The trio, which features Kerssen on keyboards, Noah Flaharty on drums and John Valinote on bass, performed the famous Guaraldi songs flawlessly.
“It’s great music,” said Kerssen.
The program began with Kerssen giving a profile of Guaraldi’s early life. He was born in San Francisco in 1932. Guaraldi was a cook in the Army during the Korean War, before he became a musician.
Guaraldi was into Latin and Salsa music. His first recording was “Chopsticks Mambo” in 1951, which the Kerssen Trio performed.
Next, they performed “Cast Your Fate to the Wind,” which was a jazz hit from Guaraldi’s album “Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus,” which won a Grammy for Best Original Jazz Composition.
“He was famous before the ‘Peanuts’ song,” said Kerssen. But he explained that “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” was the song that helped Guaraldi get the “Peanuts” gig.
Kerssen said Guaraldi was so popular because he was interesting for jazz fans and, also for people who don’t like jazz; easy to listen to and grab on to the music.
When the trio played the catchy, recognizable “Linus and Lucy,” the entire audience stood up to dance.
The trio then played the best-known “Peanuts” song “Christmas Time is Here” and the audience sang along.
Kerssen explained the song was originally an instrumental, but a children’s choir was used to sing. They were paid $5 and taken out for ice cream for their performance.
The trio performed “Skating” impeccably.
Kerssen told the audience that Guaraldi became popular after “A Charlie Brown Christmas” special and capitalized on his popularity by doing jazz covers of pop hits by The Beatles and Bob Dylan. He also continued to use the children’s choir. But Guaraldi’s final albums, “Alma-Ville” and “The Electric Vince Guaraldi,” fell into obscurity.
Guaraldi died of a heart attack in 1976 at the age of 47, but he left his legacy – “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is the second best-selling jazz album of all time, explained Kerssen.
The Kerssen Trio invited three jazz students from Rahway High School to the stage to add a horn section. They then performed “Little Birdie,” which was from the “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” special.
Meg Spatz teaches band and orchestra at Rahway High School. She saw the advertisement for the show on Facebook and thought it was a great opportunity to bring her three students who were invited onstage – Jacnel, 16; Tony, 15; and Louis, 14.
The evening concluded with the trio performing “Christmas is Coming.”
Kerssen’s mom, Lisa Kerseen, was in the audience. She said, “I always enjoy it. It’s educational and fun.”
Nick Bayak, of Elizabeth, said, “It was very good. Very well done.”
Learn more about Patrick Kerssen at https://www.patrickkerssenpiano.com/.
To find out more about the Cranford Public Library, visit: https://www.cranfordlibrary.org/.
Photos by Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta
