A trip down memory lane with Charlie Brown

For some folks it’s not Christmas without Charlie Brown. This year, fans of the iconic jazz music get an opportunity to visit with Jerry Granelli in Tales of a Charlie Brown Christmas coming to the Arden Theatre on Tuesday, Dec. 16.

Granelli is the only surviving member of the Vince Guaraldi Trio, the original musicians behind Charlie Brown’s ageless holiday soundtrack. As the drummer, he provides the unmistakable steady swing beats for the classic Charlie Brown “Peanuts” theme song.

In a telephone interview from his Halifax home, Granelli was quite emphatic that the upcoming concert was designed to capture the essence of the animation’s soundtrack.

“I wasn’t interested in reproducing it. I wanted to improve on it with a children’s choir and film clips,” said Granelli.

The Granelli Trio, which also includes Calgary bassist Simon Fisk and Vancouver pianist Chris Gestrin, lay out jazz standards in combination with snippets of video footage borrowed from the Charles M. Schultz Museum. Threading the concert together is a series of insider stories and jokes.

The Jazz Times magazine calls Granelli “one of those uncategorizable percussionists who’s done it all.”

A veteran of the West Coast jazz scene, he was born in San Francisco in 1940. He realized his passion in 1948 after spending a day with Gene Krupa. Later, hanging out in nightclubs, he soaked up the jazz sounds of the great Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and Max Roach.

Eventually his hunger to be part of the jazz scene led him to Dave Brubeck’s drummer Joe Morello. During his two years as Morello’s pupil, Granelli developed into a much-in-demand session player and eventually landed a gig with Vince Guaraldi.

The Guaraldi Trio, which also included bassist Charlie Haden, was a top-tier, big-gig jazz group and Granelli established a reputation for relentless, perfect time.

He still recalls recording four tracks for A Charlie Brown Christmas, at Coast Recorders, a studio with state-of-the-art equipment for the times.

“It was mostly four-track analog tapes. Everything was mixed by hand, and if you wanted to make a phone call, you had to find a payphone.”

The Guaraldi Trio laid down the tracks in three hours and “cast their fate to the wind.”

But even before the television program aired in 1965 there were rumblings from CBS. Producers were worried the animation was too religious and the jazz soundtrack was too cutting edge for children’s programming.

No one anticipated this experimental project would have such widespread appeal. Since its debut, it has become an iconic holiday soundtrack enjoyed by millions.

Granelli only speculates as to why the soundtrack touched a chord in people.

“The music is real. It’s not manipulated. It was done simply. It all worked. No one knows what makes a hit. But it touched people with the message Charles Schultz had about the real meaning of Christmas. It connected with people. How? Why? People are still wracking their brains.”

Despite the soundtrack generating millions for industry corporations, Granelli never received a piece of the action. He was only paid a flat fee of $68 for his three hours of studio time. Although the groovemaster created and improvised the drum tracks, because the drum lines were not written down, he was not entitled to residuals.

“The musicians’ union never protected its people and in our own naÄ‚Ĺ»vetĂ©, we went along with it.”

Some people would have become twisted by bitterness. Granelli never succumbed to it and instead championed new projects. For 40 years, he’s been on the forefront of most innovations and movements in jazz.

“I’m overwhelmed by people’s response to it. I’m grateful it gave me a start in life and Vince was a great inspiration.”

Through the last 49 years, Granelli had little desire to play the Charlie Brown score. But people approached him throughout that time mentioning how the music made an impact on their lives.

“There was the man who brought his kids for the afternoon matinee and came back in the evening with his dad. His dad had introduced him to Charlie Brown. There was a soldier who did two tours in Afghanistan and said the music helped him get through Christmas.”

Two years ago Granelli reconsidered the idea of creating a new show.

“But I didn’t want to make it pure nostalgia. I wanted it to work on a level that would reach people and work as a performance.”

In keeping with this decision of providing diversity, Granelli added video clips and invited the St. Albert Youth Musical Association to join him on stage for two numbers – Christmas Time and Hark, The Herald Angels Sing.

The young singers reaction to singing with Granelli was predictable.

“I didn’t have to sell it,” laughs SAYMA conductor Criselda Mierau. “They were over the moon. The drummer was the Charlie Brown dude and Charlie Brown is still pretty much part of our lives.”

CBC recorded Tales of a Charlie Brown Christmas in Halifax and the audio will be online in the next 10 days.