Alma-Ville

Alma-Ville is the 12th and final studio album by American jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi, released in the U.S. by Warner Bros.-Seven Arts in December 1969.

Background
Vince Guaraldi's final three albums released during his lifetime were recorded for Warner Bros.-Seven Arts after spending considerable time struggling to extricate himself from Fantasy Records. Warner signed Guaraldi to a three-record deal, and insisted that his inaugural release consist of his Peanuts songs. Guaraldi responded with new renditions of eight of his most popular scores from those programs on his first release, Oh Good Grief!. Guaraldi was then given complete artistic control over his sophomore, self-produced Warner effort, The Eclectic Vince Guaraldi, resulting in an unfocused and overindulgent album that was not well received by both critics and consumers.

At Warner's insistence, arranger Shorty Rogers was recruited to produce Guaraldi's final album, Alma-Ville. The album includes a cover of The Beatles’ song "Eleanor Rigby", which Guaraldi had been regularly performing during his live sets. The album's title track is a new recording of a song originally recorded earlier for the album Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus (1962).

Reception
Though deemed a focused improvement over The Eclectic Vince Guaraldi, Warner Bros. lost interest in Guaraldi and did not promote Alma-Ville, letting him go at the end of their three-record deal. Both The Eclectic Vince Guaraldi and Alma-Ville fell into obscurity, with Oh Good Grief! remaining in print and a steady seller due to the perpetual popularity of the Peanuts franchise.

A remastered edition of Alma-Ville was released on July 6, 2018, by Omnivore Recordings as part of the 2-CD set The Complete Warner Bros.–Seven Arts Recordings.

Session information
Credits adapted from remastered 2018 CD liner notes.

"The Masked Marvel"
 * Written by Vince Guaraldi
 * Piano: Vince Guaraldi
 * Guitar: Eddie Duran
 * Double bass: Kelly Bryan
 * Drums: Al Coster
 * Recorded in mid-to-late October 1969

"Cristo Redentor"
 * Written by Duke Pearson
 * Piano: Vince Guaraldi
 * Guitar: Eddie Duran
 * Double bass: Kelly Bryan
 * Drums: Al Coster
 * Recorded in mid-to-late October 1969

"Detained in San Ysidro"
 * Written by Vince Guaraldi
 * Piano: Vince Guaraldi
 * Guitar: Herb Ellis
 * Double bass: Monty Budwig
 * Drums: Colin Bailey
 * Recorded on October 10, 1969

"Eleanor Rigby"
 * Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
 * Piano: Vince Guaraldi
 * Guitar: Herb Ellis
 * Double bass: Monty Budwig
 * Drums: Colin Bailey
 * Recorded in mid-to-late October 1969

"Uno Y Uno"
 * Written by Vince Guaraldi
 * Piano, lead guitar: Vince Guaraldi
 * Double bass: Kelly Bryan
 * Drums: Al Coster
 * Recorded in mid-to-late October 1969

"Alma-Ville"
 * Written by Vince Guaraldi
 * Piano: Vince Guaraldi
 * Guitar: Herb Ellis
 * Double bass: Monty Budwig
 * Drums: Colin Bailey
 * Recorded on October 10, 1969

"Rio From the Air"
 * Written by Vince Guaraldi
 * Piano, guitar: Vince Guaraldi
 * Electric bass: Sebastião Neto
 * Drums: Dom Um Romão
 * Percussion: Rubens Bassini
 * Recorded in mid-to-late October 1969

"Watch What Happens"
 * Written by Norman Gimbel and Antoine Le Grand
 * Piano: Vince Guaraldi
 * Guitar: Eddie Duran
 * Double bass: Kelly Bryan
 * Drums: Al Coster
 * Recorded in mid-to-late October 1969

"Jambo’s"
 * Written by Vince Guaraldi
 * Piano: Vince Guaraldi
 * Guitar: Herb Ellis
 * Double bass: Monty Budwig
 * Drums: Colin Bailey
 * Percussion: Rubens Bassini
 * Recorded on October 10, 1969