Man, this has to be head and shoulders above all other Christmas albums. Usually Christmas albums are some ultra-cheesy way for somebody to rip a few bucks off of their fans. The end result is terrible, but the fans that purchase it are so deluded with the artist’s power they don’t even notice.
Vince Guaraldi achieved the impossible feat then: to create a cool Christmas album that never ages or feels insincere. At no point do you say to yourself “this feels forced”. Rather the more you listen to it you wish that more artists could have the class and restraint that Vince shows in this absolutely warm album.
Both the originals and renditions are beautiful. Each particular emotional chord is pressed. Actually it probably embodies a lot of what Christmas really is: despite the decorative lighting and get-together s, it is a somber holiday. The excitement tends to dissipate fairly quickly, and the amount of nervousness the holiday brings a good deal of people into the doldrums.
Rather than offer some cheery eyed version of Christmas, as a wonderful holiday, the album serves as a reminder of the contemplative nature of the holiday, from “O Tannenbaum” to the sweet “My Little Drum” which has one of the nicest flourishes of sound about a third of the way in.
I’m reminded of New York heavily whenever this is played. I don’t know why, it feels like a very specific type of New York to me. How quiet and unobtrusive the music is, how innocent the singers are for the hallmark song “Christmas Time is here”. The languid pace helps things as well, allowing this to be the perfect album for standing on a street corner eating roasted chestnuts.
You could do no better than this wonderful gem of an album to adorn your holidays.