"Love Will Come: The Music of Vince Guaraldi Vol. 2"

One of the great pleasures in life is to hear a peaceful, spiritual CD that contains that is both familiar yet spoken with a different voice. This is what is happening with pianist George Winston's follow-up album to his 1996 release "Linus and Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi." Born in 1949, Winston was influenced by the instrumental R & B songs of the 1960's and began taking up the organ in earnest in 1967 after hearing The Doors yet by 1971, he switched to the piano, creating a wider tonal range with his ruminative recordings. What makes this a special album is that Vince Guaraldi's music is a continuing source of delight for George Winston and the results show in this album of unfamiliar compositions by Guaraldi. Interestingly, the folk piano style of Winston isn't too far away from Guaraldi's music. "Time for Love" is one of the more adventurous tracks with an inner serenity, the harmonies soaring across the spectrum. "Woodstock" of course is our little yellow birdie friend, the music portraying a homespun character who, like Harpo Marx, manages to say a lot with his sun-shine nature. There are the familiar (Linus and Lucy" hooks in the left hand to remind us of what we are listening to as well as little off the wall chirps from Woodstock. "Love Will Come" is lovely, expansive work that carries more than a hint of tender nostalgia. These works and more like are a pure delight, welcome listening for relaxing after a stress filled day with the friendly faces of not only the Peanuts gang but also with the genius of the keyboard, George Winston who knows, better than anyone else, the fine artistry of taking the piano into areas of peace and calm with imaginative ideas.

Track Listings:

Time for Love

It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown

Macedonia/Little David

Woodstock

Fenwyck's Farfel/Calling Dr. Frank

Room at the Bottom

Air Music

Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown

You're Elected, Charlie Brown/Little Birdie

Brasilia

White Rabbit/Jambo's (Casaba)

Pebble Beach/Dolores Park

Love Will Come/Slow Dancee

Rain, Rain Go Away

Love Will Come

Charlie Brown's Baseball Theme (Bonus Track)