Destination Unknown

(No, this isn’t some pessimistic post about the current ills of the society)

My brother came back from Taiwan yesterday. In addition to being thrilled to see him again since we have a lot of catching up to do, I was absolutely glad that he found me one CD. One Jazz CD. One Jazz CD of my favorite comics strip of all time.

For those in the know, I don’t prefer the stereotypical laugh-out-loud, punchlines-ridden, potty-humor-driven comics strip we see too often in random newspapers or bookstores. I prefer the kind of comic strip that alludes to the wisdom of everyday life. Peanuts is exactly this kind of comic strip. What’s even better is that Peanuts to not become excessively preachy, so unlike a more recent comic notoriously known as Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Which is exactly why I’m thrilled when I was handed this CD (which was still in shrinkwrap then). I have heard the soothing jazz music (mostly in piano) in some of the e-cards found in the snoopy web page, and I can say that judging from the quality of what I’m hearing in those short flash presentation, there quite is a lot to expect in a CD heralded as one of the essential jazz CD’s of our time.

And happy I was when I finally heard the entire CD. It lives up to every expectation I initially had, and then some.

This album is not only a good addition to any jazz enthusiast’s library, but for those who have heard enough of Norah Jones, Michael Buble, and prefer to hear non-vocalized/purely instrumental Jazz song, this is a good place to start. The songs are soothing, definitely, but unlike the jazz mostly lost in the coffee shop buzz (or bookstores, or those that lulls you to sleep), a lot of tunes in this album really, really, really stands out. For instance, I have not heard of many jazz songs more upbeat than the sixth track, named Linus and Lucy. I have not heard of many jazz songs that has as much of a "Good Grief" feel than the first track, Good Grief. The character songs found in this album, which includes Shroeder, Charlie Brown, and Linus and Lucy, all exudes so much personality that feels exactly like their own. This taken in itself makes the album worth the purchase even for those uninitiated with Peanuts who wants to know what the characters are like. Sadly, I would like to hear tracks of Snoopy (especially Snoopy, him being my all time favorite cartoon character), Woodstock, Peppermint Patty, and Sally, all of which the album doesn’t have.

Still, this is one of the best music CD’s I’ve been given (and currently own). Just by putting on the CD to my sound system is enough to start making me imagine sceneries from Peanut comics strip, of which I really love. Reality can be an awful place to step in so in the meantime, I’m gonna go back to listening to this album and let it take me to a world where characters are deformed and where dog who live on rooftops type, woo, eat, sleep and imagine himself being a flying ace.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 29th, 2006 at 5:01 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.