JAZZ: Vince Guaraldi Trio – A Charlie Brown Christmas

I feel sorry for anyone making a Christmas record. It must be difficult to know that no matter how hard you work, no matter how great the music is, it will never have a shot at being the best Christmas album ever made. That title will always reside with Vince Guaraldi’s brilliant soundtrack for Charles M. Schulz and Lee Mendelson’s timeless TV special about a little boy’s struggle with the true meaning of Christmas. The story behind the record began with Mendelson hearing Guaraldi’s “Cast Your Fate to The Wind” on a San Francisco radio station while driving across the Golden Gate Bridge in 1963. He was struck by how the song was at once “adult and childlike.” Two years later, when Mendelson began collaborating with Schulz on a Christmas special, he looked to Guaraldi to create the perfect musical score. It worked. There is so much to love about this record, beginning with the opener: Guaraldi’s interpretation of one of the most insufferable Christmas carols ever written, “O Tannenbaum.” And yet, what he produces is something light years ahead of, say, this vacuous rendition by Tony Bennett. Guaraldi’s version sounds a bit sad, yes, just like the TV special’s lead character. But the song does not sound hopeless, either. It leaves open the possibility that there is meaning out there. “Christmas Time Is Here”, an original composition by Guaraldi and Mendelson, aptly expresses the melancholy of Charlie Brown’s opening scene lament: “I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. Christmas is coming, but I’m not happy. I don’t feel the way I’m supposed to feel.” Like Charlie Brown’s own internal struggle, the joyous lyrics of the song (e.g. “Christmas time is here. Happiness and cheer. Fun for all that children call their favorite time of year”) clash with its sad, longing melody. The record also includes some happier tunes, like “Skating”. Listen and you can practically see the snowflakes falling and see the Peanuts gang sliding effortlessly over the icy pond. “Christmas is Coming” is a fun little bop where the record feels its jazziest. Another of my favorites is “My Little Drum”, which features the angelic voices of the children’s choir from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in San Rafaelt, California, to go alongside Guaraldi’s delicate piano and Jerry Granelli’s calming brush work.

NEAT: Compass Box Spice Tree

To pair with the greatest Christmas record of all-time, I chose a blended Scotch whisky by Compass Box that is perfectly suited for the winter holidays. Part of their signature line of whiskies, Spice Tree is a unique malt whisky that is produced by a two-stage aging process. The dram begins with malts from three different Highland distilleries. These are first aged separately in American oak casks. Upon maturation, they are blended before a secondary two-year aging process begins, this time in a suite of specially crafted hybrid barrels. These casks use new French oak for the heads and American oak for the bodies. The French heads are toasted to three different levels (“vanilla”, “infrared”, and “mocha” toasts, to use Compass Box’s terminology) which produces the whisky’s distinctive complexity and, yes, spiciness. The description of the nose characteristics is a cavalcade of Christmas baking spices: “Big, sweet aromas of clove, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.” Yes, please. Another highlight of Spice Tree is its long, lingering, warming finish. A feat it accomplishes without a hint of peat smoke to be found (making this a good choice for those who enjoy bold whisky yet dislike smokier coastal single malts). For anyone struggling with the commercialism of Christmas this year, try sipping some Spice Tree next to your Christmas tree while you relax to the soothing sounds of The Vince Guaraldi Trio. Or, maybe, just watch A Charlie Brown Christmas. That’s what Christmas is all about, after all.