| Review by ramossp February 11, 2003
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Performance:  Sonics:  |
| I admit, I took a chance on this albulm. Outside of the "Peanuts" specials I knew very little of Vince Guaraldi's work and was a little worried what I might wind up with. But I took a shot anyway and am I glad I did. I now own four Guaraldi albulms (one of them a Peanuts albulm) and am constantly on the look out for others. First a little history, the original score for the 1959 film "Black Orpheus" was written by the Samba giant Antonio Carlos Jobim (for those unfamiliar he also appears on the Getz/Gilbretto albulm). Guaraldi took four of these pieces and reworked them for this albulm, added two standards, two originals, and "Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus" was born. The resulting music is fabulous: its sweet at times, swinging at others, but always with a latin undertone to hint at the albulms roots. From the opening bass line of "Samba De Orpheus" you're hooked, each song an invitingly melodic musical journey for the soul. "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" is probably my favorite, and actually spent a considerable amount of time on the charts. The sound of the SACD is fairly good, but can be a little rough at times (again showing the age of the fantasy master tapes). Do yourself a favor, pick this one up, it'll please just about any jazz (or music) lover.
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| Review by flyingdutchman August 13, 2003 (1 of 2 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
Absolutely wonderful jazz in the samba style. I bought this expecting Guaraldi's similar sounding Charlie Brown Christmas. It is fantastic music-making. The sound is old, but still sounds really good. Buy this w/o reservations.
One thing to note: the SACD layer of this has a defect. I have found out that Sonopress in Germany has admitted to the problem and Acousticsounds.com will replace your discs should you have the problem. I hope mine will be on the way pronto because I love this disc.
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| Review by monotone April 13, 2004
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Performance: Sonics:  |
An excellent recording featuring most of the popular standards. As reviewed before, the recording sounds dated, and the SACD version wasn't as good as it can possibly be. A disappointment actually, with faults on the first two tracks, both on the SACD and CD layer. Contacted Acoustic Sounds too, and they were more than willing to replace it. But the replacement sounded exactly the same. For this recording, I might just head back to the vinyls. Do let me know if anyone's copy is completely fault free.
If sound is not an issue, the album is great collection of jazz-brazilian fusion tunes, most of them are instantly recognisable. A great record for that relaxing-lazy-sunny afternoon. I personally think if you are after an easy start to jazz, this album should be in your must have list.
High enjoyable!
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| Review by JW November 7, 2004 (1 of 1 found this review helpful)
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Performance:  Sonics:  |
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing ! And this disc surely swings. It's a delicate, bossa nova flavored jazz, swing. The piano is the star here with tasteful drumming and Monty Budwig on bass almost in a subservient role. Monty can swing with the best of them and I would have liked to hear him a little more prominently here, but that's a matter of taste I guess. The sonics are analog-like, but the piano lacks extension, body and at times distorts in the treble. A quick comparison with piano discs such as Bill Evans - also on APO - reveal a more natural sound. Evans' piano simply sounds more like a piano. The Oscar Peterson discs win in terms of clarity and impact. The tapes are showing their age in Guaraldi's case. My SA-CD also has some drop outs in track 1 and 2. Overall a delightful disc which, while sonically compromised*, never fails to please.
Jw
*take this with a grain of audiophile salt :-) it does not sound bad.
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| Review by miguelito54 April 8, 2008 (2 of 2 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
I was almost tempted to describe this as a classic of easy listening jazz, but making music like this, on a high level of musicianship but still entertaining, is so hard to do, and probably a lost art.
Vince Guaraldi was a master at this, one of the most swinging West Coast pianists with a great affinity towards Latin music. Bassist Monty Budwig has a nice rubbery sound, drummer Colin Bailey swings with exuberance and technical aplomb.
I had the Original Jazz Classics CD before this which sounds nice, but flat in comparison to this SACD: there's alot more detail in the sound of brushes and cymbals, more space around the instruments. Sometimes there is a slight decrease of high frequencies, probably caused by tape ageing, and on track 2, the opening piano is heard only on the right channel for a few seconds. I suppose these defects are in the orginal tapes ... The music has so much feeling that I will rather not complain. Lie back and enjoy! The sound is as good as it gets for a 1962 recording: Direct and natural. Ideal to brighten up your day.
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