A Tribute to Vince Guaraldi

• Richard Meehan - Piano
• Howard King - Double Bass
• Mike Goff - Drums

A native of San Francisco, Vince Guaraldi became one of America's best-selling jazz artists. Though much of his legacy is tied to his association with Charles M. Schulz's cartoon 'Peanuts', he had already made a name for himself in the jazz world by the time he was tapped to score the first of these many animated specials. Guaraldi was a regular performer in the Bay Area throughout the 1950s, often in the studio, most notably with several Cal Tjader-led outfits, and also with his own eponymous trios, with which he began recording in 1956. It was his 1962 LP, ‘Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus', which catapulted the pianist into wide recognition, with his original track 'Cast Your Fate to the Wind' winning the 1963 GRAMMY® Award for Best Original Jazz Composition. Tonight we pay tribute to Guaraldi with a selection of his original work.

Richard Meehan is a highly-experienced composer, arranger, conductor, educator and multi-instrumentalist. His recent release is a second album of big band tracks for JW Media Music (subsidiary of Josef Weinberger), following on from the success of his previous, 'Show Time', which was used widely on US cable TV and most notably on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. As pianist, his work with the Rich Meehan Trio has been widely acclaimed, including 'track of the week' on Jazz FM for 'Prelude' in May 2022. He is an award-winning composer for film, has written for theatre including the Mexican production of 'Faustaff', and boasts a sizeable body of educational music.

Howard King plays in various jazz groups in the Oxfordshire area and runs Goring Jazz.

Mike Goff studied extramurally with Dave Wickins at Trinity College, also with drum master Clark Tracey. He regularly plays alongside the finest on the scene.