One of America’s greatest pop/jazz composers, Vince Guaraldi died on February 6, 1976 at age 47. His passing left a gaping hole in the instrumental music world yet his greatness wasn’t even fully appreciated at the time. Although perhaps best known for his fantastic piano music based around the Charlie Brown / Peanuts cartoon series, in my book Guaraldi was granted permanent musical immortality with his song classic “Cast Your Fate To The Wind,” which believe it or not was the b-side to his 1962 single “Samba de Orpheus,” which itself was from his Jazz Impressions Of Black Orpheus album on Fantasy Records. With it's haunting melody that's been played by millions of admiring musicians since, “Cast Your Fate To The Wind” will go down as one of the greatest songs ever written. One key musician keeping Guaraldi’s legacy alive in the 21st century is renowned New Age pianist / guitar enthusiast and Dancing Cat honcho George Winston. In between running his Hawaiian slack key guitar series on his Dancing Cat label, Winston sometimes gets back to doing what he himself does best which is record sumptuous solo piano albums. Back in the peace and love ‘90s (remember then?), Winston recorded his first tribute album to Vince—Linus And Lucy: The Music Of Vince Guaraldi and now in 2010 George releases Love Will Come: The Music Of Vince Guaraldi, Volume 2. Winston was a key member of the original Windham Hill wrecking crew back in the ‘80s and a wide range of music enthusiasts propelled his albums to the top of the New Age charts back then. Simply put, you don’t have to like New Age or jazz to love Winston’s latest solo piano tribute to Vince Guaraldi. You just have to love excellent melodic mood music because that’s what Vince Guaraldi was all about. Winston’s early New Age successes on Windham Hill no doubt afforded him the luxury to record tributes to the four seasons (the times of the year, not Frankie Valli’s group!) as well as other tributes he released in tribute to The Doors and others. Winston's 16 track, 2009 piano tribute to Vince Guaraldi's classic original music is certain to strike a welcoming tone among Guaraldi fans as well as anyone who remembers how great the best American music composers are and will always be. Commenting on his latest audio expose on Vince, Mr. Winston adds, ‘There are three composers that I have at one time or another tried to play all of their songs: New Orleans R&B pianist Professor Longhair, The Doors, and Vince Guaraldi. I love Vince’s melodies and his chord progressions and his piano playing—especially his left hand.’ Showcasing Winston covering more of the best of Vince Guaraldi, Love Will Come CD is superbly recorded and features good cardboard packet packaging, complete with a booklet with in depth notes by George along with fine cover art depicting Guaraldi’s cherished San Francisco skyline. www.GeorgeWinston.com

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