Vince Guaraldi discography
Recordings by American jazz pianist and composer
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Vince Guaraldi was an American jazz pianist and composer whose discography encompasses albums released as a leader, collaborative recordings, soundtrack albums, live albums, compilation and archival releases, singles, and numerous appearances as a sideman. His commercially released recording career began in the early 1950s with ensembles led by Cal Tjader, followed by work as a bandleader and sessions with other West Coast jazz musicians.[1]
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| Vince Guaraldi discography | |
|---|---|
Guaraldi in 1968 | |
| Studio albums | 8 |
| Soundtrack albums | 13 |
| Live albums | 4 |
| Compilation albums | 8 |
| Singles | 20 |
| Collaborative albums | 5 |
| Archival albums | 5 |
| Box sets | 2 |
Guaraldi began recording under his own name in the mid-1950s. His early albums included Vince Guaraldi Trio (1956) and A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing (1957), followed by Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus (1962). The latter included "Cast Your Fate to the Wind", which became a crossover hit and won the Grammy Award for Best Original Jazz Composition.[2][3]
During the 1960s, Guaraldi also recorded extensively with Brazilian guitarist Bola Sete. Their jointly billed releases are treated separately from Guaraldi's principal studio albums because of their collaborative billing and performance history.[4]
Beginning in 1963, Guaraldi composed music for animated productions based on Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts comic strip. After scoring the unaired documentary A Boy Named Charlie Brown, he became closely associated with the franchise's holiday television specials. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) featured "Linus and Lucy", "Christmas Time Is Here", "Skating" and "Christmas Is Coming"; It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) introduced "The Great Pumpkin Waltz"; and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973) included "Thanksgiving Theme" and "Little Birdie".[5][6]
Guaraldi ultimately composed music for fifteen Peanuts television specials and the 1969 feature film A Boy Named Charlie Brown.[7] Only a portion of this material was issued commercially during his lifetime. Posthumous releases have included recovered television scores, expanded soundtrack albums, and archival editions drawn from rediscovered session materials.[8]
Because Guaraldi's catalog spans conventional jazz albums, jointly billed collaborations, soundtrack records, posthumously assembled archival releases and sideman appearances, the classifications below distinguish original billing and release format from the underlying film or television production. In particular, soundtrack albums are separated from soundtrack work, and archival releases are distinguished conceptually from conventional compilations.
Albums
Studio albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Modern Music from San Francisco |
|
| Vince Guaraldi Trio |
|
| A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing |
|
| Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus |
|
| The Latin Side of Vince Guaraldi |
|
| Vince Guaraldi with the San Francisco Boys Chorus |
|
| Oh Good Grief! |
|
| The Eclectic Vince Guaraldi |
|
| Alma-Ville |
|
Collaborative albums
Jointly billed releases with Brazilian guitarist Bola Sete are separated from Guaraldi's principal studio albums because of their collaborative billing and performance history.
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Vince Guaraldi, Bola Sete and Friends |
|
| From All Sides |
|
| Live at El Matador |
|
| Jazz Casual: Paul Winter/Bola Sete and Vince Guaraldi |
|
| The Navy Swings |
|
Soundtrack albums
This table lists commercially issued soundtrack albums. The underlying film or television productions are listed separately under Soundtrack work.
Live albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| In Person |
|
| At Grace Cathedral |
|
| Live on the Air |
|
| An Afternoon with the Vince Guaraldi Quartet |
|
Compilation albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Jazz Impressions |
|
| Greatest Hits |
|
| Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits |
|
| Essential Standards |
|
| The Definitive Vince Guaraldi | |
| Peanuts Portraits | |
| The Very Best of Vince Guaraldi | |
| Peanuts Greatest Hits |
Archival albums
Posthumous releases consisting principally of previously unreleased, newly recovered or historically assembled recordings are classified as archival albums rather than conventional compilations.
| Title | Album details | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The Charlie Brown Suite & Other Favorites | The Charlie Brown Suite – Trio; with Peter Marshall (bass), Bob Belanski (drums); "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" (live) – Quartet; with Eddie Duran (guitar), Fred Marshall (bass), John Waller (drums); mix of unreleased live and studio-based tracks; The Charlie Brown Suite recorded live with Amici Della Musica at Mr. D's, San Francisco, California, May 18, 1969[4][19] | |
| Oaxaca |
|
Quartet; with Vince Denham (saxophone), Koji Kataoka (bass), Mike Clark (drums); mix of unreleased live and studio-based tracks; live tracks recorded at In Your Ear Jazz Club in Palo Alto, California and The Matrix in San Francisco, California[4][20] |
| North Beach |
|
Quartet; with Eddie Duran (guitar), Seward McCain (acoustic bass), Peter Marshall (electric bass), Al Coster, Jerry Granelli, Eliot Zigmund (drums); mix of unreleased live and studio-based tracks[4][21] |
| Vince Guaraldi and the Lost Cues from the Charlie Brown Television Specials |
|
Sextet; with Tom Harrell (trumpet), Chuck Bennett (trombone), Pat O'Hara (flute), Seward McCain (bass), Mike Clark, Glenn Cronkite, Mark Rosengarden (drums); includes music cues from You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown (1972), There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown (1973), A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973) and You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (1975)[4][22] |
| Vince Guaraldi and the Lost Cues from the Charlie Brown Television Specials, Volume 2 |
|
Sextet; with Tom Harrell (trumpet), Chuck Bennett (trombone), Pat O'Hara (flute), Seward McCain, Peter Marshall (bass), Mike Clark, Glenn Cronkite, Mark Rosengarden, Al Coster (drums); includes music cues from You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown (1972), There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown (1973), A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973), It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown (1974), It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown (1974) and Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown (1975)[4][23] |
Box sets
| Title | Album details | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete Warner Bros.–Seven Arts Recordings |
|
Includes Guaraldi's final three studio albums remastered: Oh Good Grief!, The Eclectic Vince Guaraldi and Alma-Ville[4][24] |
| The Peanuts Collection, Vol. 1 |
|
Includes six Peanuts television soundtracks released by Lee Mendelson Film Productions between 2023 and 2025.[25] |
Singles
Other charted and certified songs
| Title | Year | Certifications | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Skating" | 1965 |
MC: Gold[30] |
A Charlie Brown Christmas |
As sideman
- 1953 The Cal Tjader Trio (Guaraldi's first recorded session)
- 1956 Introducing Gus Mancuso (Cal Tjader)
- 1957 Jazz at the Blackhawk (Cal Tjader Quartet)
- 1957 Cal Tjader (Cal Tjader Quartet)
- 1957 Conte Candoli Quartet
- 1957 Frank Rosolino Quintet
- 1957 Jazz Erotica (Richie Kamuca)
- 1958 Mas Ritmo Caliente (Cal Tjader)
- 1958 Cal Tjader-Stan Getz Sextet (all-star studio session that includes a long/extended version of Guaraldi's piece "Ginza")
- 1958 Latin Concert (Cal Tjader Quintet – all-star group with Mongo Santamaría, Willie Bobo and Al McKibbon)
- 1959 A Night at the Blackhawk (Cal Tjader Sextet)
- 1959 Latin For Lovers (Cal Tjader with Strings)
- 1959 Tjader Goes Latin (Cal Tjader)
- 1959 Latinsville! (Victor Feldman)
- 1960 Little Band Big Jazz (Conte Candoli All Stars)
- 1974 Jimmy Witherspoon & Ben Webster — Previously Unissued Recordings 1967 session from the Verve Records archive; the "Black Orpheus" incarnation of Guaraldi's trio supports the two leaders recorded live from "The Jazz Workshop" in San Francisco, California.)
- 2008 Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival 1958–1980 (Guaraldi performs on four tracks in 1958 with Cal Tjader's group featuring Santamaria, Bobo, McKibbon, and guest clarinetist Buddy DeFranco at the festival's inaugural year)
- 2012 The Cal Tjader Quintet Live at Club Macumba San Francisco 1956 (previously unreleased live performance with the Tjader quintet, featuring between-session audio)
- 2020 Fillmore West – The Final Farewell July 4, 1971 (previously unreleased live performance with Santana, Mike Bloomfield, John Cipollina, Jack Casady, Tower of Power)
Albums showcasing or featuring Guaraldi
Soundtrack work
This section lists film, television and related productions for which Guaraldi composed or performed music. A production is listed regardless of whether its score received a contemporaneous commercial soundtrack album. Commercially issued soundtrack records are listed separately under Soundtrack albums.
| Year released | Title | Personnel | Soundtrack availability | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | A Boy Named Charlie Brown (documentary) | Trio; with Monty Budwig (bass), Colin Bailey (drums)[4] | Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1964)[4][32] | Unaired television documentary |
| 1965 | A Charlie Brown Christmas | Trio; with Fred Marshall (double bass), Jerry Granelli (drums)[4] | A Charlie Brown Christmas: Original Soundtrack Recording (1965) | |
| 1966 | Charlie Brown's All Stars! | Sextet; with Eddie Duran (guitar), Eugene "Puzzy" Firth (bass), Lee Charlton (drums), Frank Snow (trumpet), John Coppola (trumpet)[33] | It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown/Charlie Brown's All Stars!: Original Soundtrack Recordings (2026)[9] | Original master recordings believed to be lost[9] |
| It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown | Sextet; with John Gray (guitar), Ronald Lang (woodwinds), Emmanuel Klein (trumpet), Monty Budwig (bass), Colin Bailey (drums)[33] | It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: Original Soundtrack Recording (2018) | First special scored with John Scott Trotter | |
| 1967 | You're in Love, Charlie Brown | Sextet; with John Gray (guitar), Ronald Lang (woodwinds), Frank Rosolino (trombone), Monty Budwig (bass), John Rae (drums)[33] | Vince Guaraldi with the San Francisco Boys Chorus (1967) | "Peppermint Patty" released as B-side of "Eleanor Rigby" single |
| 1968 | He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown | Quintet; with John Gray (guitar), Frank Strozier (alto saxophone/flute), Ralph Peña (bass), Colin Bailey (drums)[33] | ||
| 1969 | Charlie Brown and Charles Schulz | Television documentary | ||
| It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown | Decet; with Herb Ellis (guitar), Monty Budwig (double bass), Conte Candoli (trumpet), Pete Candoli (trumpet), Frank Rosolino (trombone), Victor Feldman (vibes/percussion), Jack Sperling (drums), Peter Christlieb, William Hood (woodwinds)[33] | It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown: Original Soundtrack Recording (2024) | ||
| 1971 | Play It Again, Charlie Brown | Quartet; with Herb Ellis (guitar), Charles Berghofer (bass), Dick Shanahan (drums) [33] | ||
| 1972 | You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown | Sextet; with Seward McCain (electric bass, flute), Glenn Cronkhite (drums), Tom Harrell (trumpet), Pat O'Hara (trombone) and Mel Martin (woodwinds)[33] | You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown: Original Soundtrack Recording (2024) | |
| 1973 | There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown | Quintet with Tom Harrell (trumpet), Pat O'Hara (flute), Seward McCain (electric bass), Glenn Cronkhite (drums)[33] | • Vince Guaraldi and the Lost Cues from the Charlie Brown Television Specials • Vince Guaraldi and the Lost Cues from the Charlie Brown Television Specials, Volume 2 |
|
| A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving | Quintet; with Tom Harrell (trumpet), Chuck Bennett (trombone), Seward McCain (electric bass), Mike Clark (drums)[33] | A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving: Original Soundtrack Recording (2023) | ||
| 1974 | It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown | Quartet; with Tom Harrell (trumpet), Seward McCain (electric bass), Eliot Zigmund, Mike Clark (drums)[34] | It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown: Original Soundtrack Recording (2026) | |
| It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown | Quartet; with Seward McCain (electric bass), Robert Claire (flute), Glenn Cronkite, Eliot Zigmund (drums)[33] | It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown: Original Soundtrack Recording (2025) | ||
| 1975 | Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown | Trio; with Seward McCain (electric bass), Vince Lateano (drums)[33] | Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown: Original Soundtrack Recording (2025) | |
| You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown | Trio; with Seward McCain (bass), Mark Rosengarden (drums)[33] | You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown: Original Soundtrack Recording (2025) | Final special supervised by John Scott Trotter | |
| 1976 | It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown | Trio; with Seward McCain (bass), Jim Zimmerman (drums)[33] | It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown/Charlie Brown's All Stars!: Original Soundtrack Recordings (2026)[9] | Televised six weeks after Guaraldi's death |
| Year released | Title | Personnel | Soundtrack availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | A Boy Named Charlie Brown | Trio/Septet; with Conte Candoli (trumpet), Milton Bernhart (trombone), Herb Ellis (guitar), Monty Budwig, Peter Marshall (bass), Victor Feldman (percussion), Jack Sperling, Jerry Granelli (drums)[33] | • A Boy Named Charlie Brown: Selections from the Film Soundtrack (1970, music + dialogue version) • A Boy Named Charlie Brown: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2017)[35][36] |
| Year released | Title | Format | Soundtrack availability | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | De Maupassant Music Fillers | Music television | Musical fillers created for National Educational Television to air in between programs.[37] | |
| Anatomy of a Hit | Documentary[38] | Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus (1962) | ||
| 1965 | Inside America: The Gleason Beat | Episode | ||
| Bay of Gold | Industrial film[39] | |||
| 1966 | An Adventure with Spice Islands | Industrial film | ||
| Granny Goose Potato Chips | Television commercial | |||
| Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company: Susan | Television commercial | |||
| In The Market Place | Television documentary[40] | |||
| 1967 | '67 West | Industrial film | ||
| 1974 | Bicycles Are Beautiful | Industrial film | You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown: Original Soundtrack Recording – 50th Anniversary Extended Edition (2025)[41] | Hosted by Bill Cosby |
| 2009 | Vince Guaraldi: The Maestro of Menlo Park | Documentary |