Vince Guaraldi is most renowned for having one of the top five mustaches in recent history (finishing close behind Tom Selleck). It is hard to walk through stores at Christmas without hearing the jazz stylings of Guaraldi, who composed and played the music for A Charlie Brown Christmas. Guaraldi rose to prominence as a jazz musician after a stint as an army cook during the Korean War. Guaraldi played in a number of trios and groups, and remained relatively famous within jazz circles but popularly obscure until he won a Grammy for Best Original Jazz Composition in 1963 for “Cast Your Fate to the Wind.” Lee Mendelson was producing an upcoming TV special entitled A Charlie Brown Christmas when he heard Guaraldi’s song on the radio and sought him out to compose the score. Guaraldi scored 17 of the Peanuts specials before his death at age 47 in 1976, between playing sets at a nightclub. He had just finished recording the score for It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown earlier that afternoon, and the last song he ever played was “Eleanor Rigby” by the Beatles. And in case you can’t get enough, the Jose Gonzales Trio will play the entire soundtrack of A Charlie Brown Christmas at three separate venues in the Seattle area in December–all conveniently after our show!