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Saturday, November 18th at 4pm Gualala Arts will be hosting “The True Side of Vince Guaraldi Including Snoopy”.   The concert will include a tribute to the early instrumental music of the Nat King Cole Trio featuring pianist/composer Larry Vuckovich, guitarist Kai Lyons and bassist Owen Clapp.  General admission tickets will be $25, plus $5 day of, $100 sponsor tickets are also available, tickets are available at Gualala Arts, the Dolphin Gallery and online at Eventbrite.com.

A Message from Festival Music Coordinator Fred Adler
“Having been his only student, a much younger Larry Vuckovich was often called by Vince Guaraldi (b:1928 – d:1976) to substitute for him, when he was unavailable for a San Francisco club engagement due to previous commitments.  Vuckovich also performed in joint concert with Guaraldi at The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco.  Larry is the world’s foremost expert on Guaraldi’s musical versatility, well before the days of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
I am proud to present this important concert at our unique and scenic Pacific Ocean/redwood forest Arts Center location.  The Vuckovich Trio’s take on the famous Nat King Cole Trio’s “Sweet Lorraine” will also be a concert highlight along with other gems from their repertoire.

I will speak/sing the profound classic “September Song,” whose poignant narrative concerns aging and romantic love. (Not to be missed!)  I believe the Arts can be our principal savior of spirit throughout these horribly distressing times.  Although Global Harmony appears unreachable, together, supporting the Arts, we will overcome and survive.”

A Message from Pianist and Composer Larry Vuckovich

“The Saturday, November 18th concert, Whale and Jazz Festival Music Coordinator, Fred Adler and I are presenting the real Vince Guaraldi’s true side, which is lesser-known than his claim-to-fame Peanuts/Charlie Brown repertoire. 

Having been Vince’s only student and also working with my own Vince Guaraldi Tribute Quintet, Vince was at home with hard swinging Bebop, Afro-Cuban salsa, Brazilian style jazz including his association with conga great Bola Sete, plus with down-home blues and funky Boogaloo sounds.…… This true side of Vince Guaraldi will be presented in the concert, as well as some ‘Peanuts’ selections including “Charlie Brown Christmas”, and importantly Vince’s first great hit, Cast Your Fate to the Wind – which was the jumping off point going into Peanuts, Snoopy/Charlie Brown repertoire. The other part of the concert, a tribute to the Nat King Cole trio , is connected to Vince’s two first recordings which used the piano/guitar/bass format that Nat King Cole made famous. Nat was a great jazz pianist and this concert will include some of their trio instrumental pieces.

The young, hot guitarist Kai Lyons and also youthful and talented, groovy bassist, Owen Clapp are first call – very much in demand rhythm cats in the Bay Area. They are old souls being at home in any jazz genre, steeped in tradition, yet wide open to all the new jazz developments. Playing with them is always uplifting!

Co-producer Fred Adler is one of the finest and most knowledgeable jazz presenters that I have ever worked with. Music is his life and he has an enormous knowledge of artists, their music and other important details. Fred always comes up with fresh, creative themes, managing to put his personal slant on each particular one, making it different, creating more interest.”