Greatest Hits

AMG Review of Greatest Hits

Richard S. Ginell
All Music Guide

First released on LP in 1980, this compilation concentrates upon bite-sized samples from Vince Guaraldi's Fantasy catalog. Naturally, Fantasy includes famous tunes like "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" and "Linus and Lucy," but there are also some superb sleepers ("Star Song," Jobim's "Outra Vez") that display Guaraldi's wonderful melodic gift, and the sessions with Bola Sete are touched upon. As a chronicle of Guaraldi's Fantasy days, the set is somewhat incomplete, for it leaves out all material recorded prior to "Cast Your Fate" and Guaraldi isn't given much of a chance to stretch out. But this is definitely the place to start for someone who has not heard this whimsically inventive pianist.