As the autumn nights get colder and winter approaches, 2023 American Pianists Awards winner Isaiah J. Thompson has created a warm and inviting musical space for all in his latest release, "A Guaraldi Holiday."

As the autumn nights get colder and winter approaches, 2023 American Pianists Awards winner Isaiah J. Thompson has created a warm and inviting musical space for all in his latest release, "A Guaraldi Holiday."

Vince Guaraldi’s compositions for Peanuts television specials have long served as a sly introduction to the world of jazz for generations of listeners. Isaiah, who grew up listening to Guaraldi’s tunes each holiday season, pays homage to this legacy with an invigorating collection of twelve tracks.

The album, co-produced with the expertise of John Pizzarelli, is both a journey back in time and a modern celebration of Guaraldi’s talents performed by a rising troupe of young jazz talents.

American Pianists Association’s Lee Clifford caught up with Isaiah to discuss the album, which will be released on the Outside in Music label on December 1, 2023.

Lee

Isaiah, great to see you! You told me that you have been wanting to do this album for a long time.

Isaiah

Yes!

Lee

Charlie Brown television specials or the Vince Guaraldi albums—what was your first exposure to this music?

Isaiah

That's a good question. I’m not sure. My mom loves Charlie Brown and Peanuts, so that's kind of I think what did it. I feel like I knew about the music before the shows. It was more of a thing of like, there is this album, "A Charlie Brown Christmas."

I had never seen the specials and she would talk about Charlie Brown, when he was like, “I got a rock” the night of Halloween, the Great Pumpkin and all that. And I think slowly I started to watch them when she would show them to me.

They're really hard to catch on TV now. They come on once a year and if you miss it, you miss it. So I wouldn't always be able to catch them, but I do remember watching all of them and discovering Guaraldi and his genius behind it. So, yeah every year that was played in the house, every holiday season.

Lee

So she had the records?

Isaiah

Yeah or it would be on iTunes, but she had the music. It was always in the rotation. Most people have kind of a sacred thing. They have their holiday albums that they listen to, and you don't mess with that! This is what we listen to during the holidays, you know? This was in the rotation of things that we listen to.

Lee

I'm kind of old school: I have a six CD changer from college, and I have one cartridge that's just for the holidays.

Isaiah

Right? It's a sacred thing. Yeah, everyone has what they listen to during that time and you don't mess with it.

Lee

I'm going to have to add this one.

Isaiah

Yeah, it's great music! I was doing some research: "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is the second most sold jazz album of all time behind "Kind of Blue."

Lee

Wow! I know many artists have recorded Guaraldi tunes. What are your favorite historical recordings of his music?

Isaiah

That's a great question. I listen to Wynton’s [Marsalis]—it’s like, really good. Wynton’s is one that I love with his father, Ellis. I've been listening to Cyrus Chestnut. David Benoit has one--Christian McBride's on it and Russell Malone and Take 6—it’s a bunch of guys under this one thing. I found that there's a version Bill Cunliffe has; it's not a full tribute, but there are a few songs that he plays.

it's interesting. I've just started and have found so many. Especially just "Linus and Lucy," I mean, there's so many records…I've heard some solo guitar "Linus and Lucy" and things like this can be really good.

Lee

That's cool.

Isaiah

It is really cool.

Lee

Did you pick the instrumentation and arrangements?

Isaiah

Yeah, I arranged all of it. Every tune was different, but I didn't intentionally set out to be like, “I'm going to change this.” I think my goal was just to play it in a way that I felt I heard it. I was like, "can I just emphasize how I hear it?" That was really what I was trying to do as opposed to intentionally changing it.

Lee

How did you arrive at the band members?

Isaiah

I mean that was more obvious. They're my class—people I grew up with, people I was in school with. And now everybody's getting busy, you know, really busy and it’s a good thing.

Lee

You are all taking off!

Isaiah

Yeah, and it's a good thing. This was a great way to document where we are at this time, and this record has a family-like feeling. And unfortunately but also fortunately, you know, we're not going to be seeing each other as much in the same way, right? So I was thinking about it in a culminating kind of way—this will be one of the last times we can get all of us in a room and do this, at least in this part of our lives.

Lee

And to do it in a holiday spirit, that's really cool.

Isaiah

Yeah. You know, getting Kyle Poole—I was right because Kyle just moved.

Lee

I didn't know that.

Isaiah

Yeah, he moved to L.A. I had a feeling, so getting him and getting Philip and Alexa—you know she just got married—I mean, everybody's got lives going on. Being able to get everybody in the same spot, I wanted to make sure I got that and celebrated it through the holidays.

Lee

How did you narrow down the whole Guaraldi repertoire into the tunes you selected for this album?

Isaiah

Most of them are from "A Charlie Brown Christmas." But the whole concept was how can I get through all the holidays by means of Guaraldi, right? I started with Halloween because I'd seen that one. Then the Thanksgiving ones which I love. And then, obviously, Christmas.

Now he wasn't alive by the time the New Year's episode came out. So I just remembered all the solo piano kind of things that he played, even thought about his introductions, like when he had kids singing. Things like that, you know? So I thought, "how about I do 'Auld Lang Syne' solo piano in that style. And maybe we can do humming instead of the wooing"—that kind of thing. And that was the whole idea.

But also he recorded in all different instrumentations: he had a quintet; he recorded solo piano; he recorded trio and quartet. So I thought, "how can I get all the different instrumentations that he recorded?" So the record like we were talking about has different people on different things to try to celebrate all the different ways that he recorded.

With "Auld Lang Syne," he didn't play the song or at least record it, but I tried to reflect kind of that sentiment.

Lee

And then "Heartburn Waltz" for Valentines Day.

Isaiah

Right.

Lee

I guess I must have seen that one…

Isaiah

That's a harder one to find. It's not as popular, but it’s a good one.

Lee

Tell me about your plans for the album release and tour.

Isaiah

Yeah. I'm going to Cincinnati and going to Indianapolis and Lexington, Kentucky. We're playing at Birdland the 19th of December. So that's going to be our New York thing. And close to Christmas. So hopefully people can make it out to all the different things.

Lee

That's great! I'm assuming you'll have lots of family at Birdland.

Isaiah

That should be a fun day! Hopefully everybody can make it out.

Lee

Anything else that you would like people to know?

Isaiah

That's mainly it.

I hope that this can become part of everyone's kind of sacred stash of holiday music. You know, I kind of feel there's a lineage with this music that people don't talk about specifically this music. Most people have heard it. Whether they wanted to hear it or not. They’ve heard "Linus and Lucy." It's like one of the most famous American melodies—every kid knows "Linus and Lucy."

You know, I can't remember the first time—I mean like in your first piano lesson, you might have played it. Who knows?  You know, so I think a lot of us take it for granted. We don't realize how popular it is and how much it everyone knows it.

You start playing “dah dah dot…” and everyone knows what it is.

Lee

And how these tunes can stick in your mind.

Isaiah

My goodness. Yeah, yeah!

I just think Guaraldi is special. When you think about the time, he was around with Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly and all these people—I mean really most of the piano players were around and just to think about this career that he built and how much success he had on this totally other plane. He was he was a piano player, jazz piano player out here playing. And he had this whole other thing. And it’s had such a deep impact. I don't think we always realize how many people, and how many kids that he that he reached being a part of Peanuts and all of that.

Lee

Okay we will celebrate it!

Isaiah

Yeah, yeah, yeah!