“A Charlie Brown Christmas“
Vince Guaraldi Trio
CD ($7.77)
The newly remastered and expanded edition of one the most popular holiday albums of all time, the soundtrack to 1965’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas” TV special includes a 20-page booklet plus three bonus tunes not included on the original LP. Nearly 50 years ago, TV viewers were drawn to the tube by the familiar Peanuts characters—but they were captivated by Guaraldi’s laid-back score of keyboards, bass, brass and drums, which introduced millions of Americans to the finger-snapping sumptuousness of jazz. The Christmas special’s hauntingly beautiful “Christmas Time is Here,” which went on to become a perennial holiday favorite, appears here in both vocal and instrumental versions, alongside the equally lovely “O Tannenbaum,” “What Child is This,” “Hark, The Herald Angels Sing,” and other tracks.
