''A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing'' is the second studio album by American jazz pianist

Vince Guaraldi Vincent Anthony Guaraldi (; birth name, né Dellaglio, July 17, 1928 – February 6, 1976) was an American jazz pianist best known for composing music for animated television adaptations of the ''Peanuts'' comic strip. His compositions for this s ...

(credited to the Vince Guaraldi Trio), released in the US by

Fantasy Records Fantasy Records is an American independent record label company founded by brothers Max and Sol Stanley Weiss in 1949. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, who was also one of its inves ...

in October 1957.

Background

''A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing'' exhibits the trio's growth from the safer jazz style played in their self-titled album ''

Vince Guaraldi Trio Vincent Anthony Guaraldi (; né Dellaglio, July 17, 1928 – February 6, 1976) was an American jazz pianist best known for composing music for animated television adaptations of the ''Peanuts'' comic strip. His compositions for this series inclu ...

''. Guaraldi employed the same musicians as he did for his debut album; guitarist

Eddie Duran Edward Lozano Duran (September 6, 1925 – November 22, 2019) was an American jazz guitarist from San Francisco. He recorded often with Vince Guaraldi and was a member of the Benny Goodman orchestra during the 1970s. Career Duran started on p ...

and bassist Dean Reilly. Guaraldi began exploring his personal style on the piano with these tracks before becoming commonly recognized and as a great jazz pianist for his latin style in his following album ''

Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus ''Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus'' is the third album by American jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi (credited to the Vince Guaraldi Trio), released in 1962 on Fantasy Records. It is considered Guaraldi's breakthrough album and made him a household ...

'' (1962).

Critical reception

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' praised the album's soothing tone, noting, in part, that "Guaraldi is serenely wistful in his interpretation of Billy Strayhorn's title song, is surely relaxed in the lightly swinging 'Softly.' He delightfully colors the impressionistic 'Yesterdays.' 'Like a Rose' is accorded a treatment almost elegiac in its poetic quietude." Guaraldi historian and author Derrick Bang ranks the album as one of the pianist's "prettiest," adding that it is "gentle and lyrical, as befits a collective theme that revolves around flora and changing seasons." ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'' critic Scott Yanow said the album is one of Guaraldi's "better sets", adding that the pianist "plays...tastefully and with light swing, making this a program that is equally successful as both cool jazz and background music."

Track listing

Personnel

;Vince Guaraldi Trio *

– piano *

– guitar *Dean Reilly –

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

;Additional * Ralph J. Gleason – liner notes * Phil De Lancie – digital remastering (1994)

Release history

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flower Is a Lovesome Thing, A Vince Guaraldi albums 1957 albums Fantasy Records albums