LABEL: Cleopatra
VINYL RELEASE DATE: 11/18/2022
ORIGINAL RELEASE DATE: 1962
VARIANT: Expanded Deluxe Edition Black Vinyl 3LP

Celebrating the 60^th anniversary of Vince Guaraldi Trio's breakthrough, Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus, this deluxe and expanded reissue offers 16 bonus tracks, including 12 previously unreleased selections, with outtakes and alternate takes of nearly every track on the album.

Produced by Nick Phillips, the original album is cut from the analog master, while the bonus material was transferred from the original analog tapes by Plangent Processes and remastered by engineer Paul Blakemore. Lacquers for the 3-LP edition were cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and pressed at RTI on 180-gram vinyl. The package also includes new, in-depth liner notes by jazz writer Andrew Gilbert (San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, KQED Arts).

Released in April 1962, Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus made Guaraldi a household name—thanks, in large part, to the irresistible sounds of “Cast Your Fate to the Wind.” Released as the B-side to “Samba de Orpheus,” the instrumental track was embraced by DJs across the country, eventually landing at No.22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No.9 on the Easy Listening chart. In 1963, “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” earned Guaraldi a GRAMMY® for Best Original Jazz Composition. Over the years, the track would be covered by a range of artists, including Quincy Jones, George Benson, Allen Toussaint, the James Gang, and Mel Tormé (who added lyrics).

Perhaps most famously, however, the tune caught the ear of television producer Lee Mendelson, who was searching for a musician to score a documentary about PEANUTS® creator, Charles M. Schulz, and his popular comic strip. While the film was never released, Guaraldi recorded the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas the following year—creating one of the best-selling jazz and holiday albums of all time in the process. Before his sudden death in 1976, Guaraldi would score more than a dozen PEANUTS® animated specials. Yet, the pianist’s musical legacy extends far beyond those enduring soundtracks, and Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus is a prime example of that.