The album was recorded in three chunks, with Vince handling piano on four of the eight tracks these four cuts - scarcely 11 minutes of music, with the trio of Tjader (vibes, bongos and drums), Jack Weeks (bass) and Guaraldi (piano) - open the album, and they're an amazing showcase for the pianist who'd later help define the sound of West Coast Jazz. This album, jazz legend Cal Tjader's very first recording for Fantasy, also includes - as far as I know - Vince Guaraldi's first studio work. Wow! Some musicians are astonishing right out of the gate, and Guaraldi certainly was one of them. Recorded November 1951 released December 1953 Re-issued on CD with numerous other tracks, as Cal Tjader: Extremes (Fantasy FCD-24764-2) If, after perusing this list, you'd like to learn more about Guaraldi and his work, check out this site's affiliated pages here. (I've never been a fan of Cal Tjader's heaviest Latin period, for example, but the lower ratings on some of those albums reflect Guaraldi's minimal involvement, rather than my dislike of the music therein.) These do not necessarily indicate the 'listenability' of the album as a whole, merely its value specifically to fans seeking Guaraldi's participation. (Fantasy, the label for which Guaraldi recorded much of his work, is frustratingly incomplete - and sometimes inaccurate - with regard to such data.)įinally, each entry includes a rating from one (*) to five (*****) stars. This document is divided into two sections: recordings on which Guaraldi participated as a sideman, and recordings released under his own name, or that of his combo.Įntries in each section are listed chronologically, to the extent that original recording dates are known.

Phenomenal, but the opportunity to hear 'fresh Vince' outweighs such issues. Guaraldi's son David has been releasing collections of previously unissued studio dates and live performance gigs the recording quality of the latter isn't always Monterey Jazz Festival 1958-1980, which includes the entire 36-minute 1958 concert that introduced so many folks to Guaraldi's phenomenal keyboard chops. I would have thoughtĪll of Guaraldi's early combo work had been issued, but then Concord Records surprised us in the summer of 2008 by releasing The Best of Cal Tjader: Live at the While fans - both casual and serious - should find many unexpected delights here, the best news is that the list continues to expand. This document is designed to catalog every recording on which Vince Guaraldi performed: no small task, as it turns out.

Vince guaraldi discography