"A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS" Larry Dunlap Trio

Everybody's favorite, "A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS" will be performed twice at PCA on the Sunday before Christmas: two shows, back-to-back, at Noon and at 1:30 PM, will be offered by a trio consisting of Larry Dunlap on piano, Ken Miller on string bass, and Akira Tana on drums. "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is a 1965 American animated television special, the first TV special based on the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. The program made its debut on the CBS television network on December 9, 1965. In the special, Charlie Brown finds himself depressed despite the onset of the cheerful holiday season. After Lucy Van Pelt suggests he direct a neighborhood Christmas play, his best efforts are ignored and mocked by his peers when he chooses a puny Christmas tree as a centerpiece. After the comic strip's debut in 1950, Peanuts had become a worldwide phenomenon by the mid-1960s. The program's soundtrack featured a jazz score by pianist Vince Guaraldi. "A Charlie Brown Christmas" received high ratings and acclaim from critics. It received an Emmy and a Peabody Award, and became an annual presentation in the United States, airing on broadcast television during the Christmas season for 56 years before becoming exclusively available on Apple TV+ streaming service. Its success paved the way for a series of Peanuts television specials and films. Its jazz soundtrack achieved commercial success, selling five million copies in the US. Live theatrical versions of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" have been staged. This presentation, performed by the above trio, is the classic form for which Guaraldi wrote the score. The trio will perform the entire score, interspersed with periods of dialogue so that the story is entirely clear. Kids of all ages are welcome, and costumes based on Peanuts characters are encouraged. Each performance will be followed by appropriate refreshments and a chance to meet the musicians! Pianist, composer and arranger LARRY DUNLAP has a multifaceted career that includes extensive work in the fields of jazz, classical and popular music. Since the early 1980s, Larry has been a pianist in North America with the British singer Dame Cleo Laine and her musician husband, Sir John Dankworth. His past work has seen him appearing and/or recording with jazz vocalists Mark Murphy, Sheila Jordan, Ernestine Anderson, and Joe Williams, as well as instrumentalists Gerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, Ralph Towner, Ernie Watts, Bud Shank, and Larry Coryell, to name a few. In the pop music field Larry has toured with The Pointer Sisters, Country Joe McDonald, and others. He appears as keyboardist, arranger, and producer on many recordings. Larry transcribes and edits music for publications from Sher Music Company. He is currently at work writing a book on vocal accompanying. At home in jazz. Classical, and popular styles of music, Larry Dunlap brings a wide range of talents and a unique perspective to each of his musical undertakings. KEN MILLER is a San Francisco-based bassist who has enjoyed a career spanning many genres of music. Ken has performed with the San Francisco Symphony and Opera Orchestras for decades, as well as many other orchestras. Ken is also an accomplished jazz musician who has played with many leading players on the Bay Area scene, both on acoustic and electric bass. Some of the jazz artists that Ken has worked with over the years include saxophonists Branford Marsalis, Pharaoh Sanders, Gary Foster, and Charlie McCarthy; guitarists Bruce Forman, Mimi Fox, Jordan Samuels, Jeffrey Burr and Kai Lyons; pianists Marion McPartland, George Cables, Al Plank, Mark Levine, Larry Dunlap, and George Gaffney. Born and raised in California, drummer AKIRA TANA earned degrees from Harvard University and the New Conservatory of Music. Tana has worked with, among others, Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt, Zoot Sims, Hubert Laws, Milt Jackson, Jim Hall, Art Farmer, The Paul Winter Consort, Paquito D'Rivera, James Moody, J.J. Johnson, Lena Horne, The Manhattan Transfer, Ruth Brown, Charles Aznavour, Maurice Hines, and Van Dyke Parks. He has appeared on over 200 recordings.