Gerald John Granelli (December 30, 1940July 20, 2021) was an American-Canadian

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

drummer. He was best known for playing drums on the soundtrack ''

A Charlie Brown Christmas ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' is a 1965 animated television special. It is the first TV special based on the comic strip ''Peanuts'', by Charles M. Schulz, and features the voices of Peter Robbins, Christopher Shea, Kathy Steinberg, Tracy Str ...

'' with the

Vince Guaraldi Vincent Anthony Guaraldi (; birth name, né Dellaglio, July 17, 1928 – February 6, 1976) was an American jazz pianist best known for composing music for animated television adaptations of the ''Peanuts'' comic strip. His compositions for this s ...

Trio.

Early life

Granelli was born to Jack and Ida Granelli in the

Mission District The Mission District ( Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as the Mission ( Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

on December 30, 1940. Vince_Guaraldi_Trio_plays_at_TGIF_party_-_1963_Franciscan

Both his father and uncle played the drums and were passionate about jazz. Granelli initially learned the violin for a year, before switching to drums. He was consequently involved with the city's

hard bop Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop (or "bop") music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospe ...

scene from a young age. A day spent with drummer

Gene Krupa Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973) was an American jazz drummer, bandleader, and composer. Krupa is widely regarded as one of the most influential drummers in the history of popular music. His drum solo on Benny Goodman ...

in 1948 informed his passion for percussion and eventually led to him studying with Joe Morello. From the 1990s until his death, Granelli lived in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

, becoming a Canadian citizen in 1999. In 2010, he released his first solo album, ''1313''. Granelli toured jazz festivals and theaters with his show ''Tales of a Charlie Brown Christmas'', which retells how the Charlie Brown Christmas TV special almost never came to be, on numerous fronts. This includes the recounting of the three-hour recording session “just another gig” in 1965 that culminated in the timeless Christmas classic. The trio never saw any of the animation. The touring show, which first took place in 2013 in Halifax and Ottawa, featured Simon Fisk on Bass, Chris Gestrin on Piano and Jerry Granelli on Drums. The trio performed the Vince Guaraldi soundtrack “the way we used to play it live in San Francisco, taking the music out”, a highlight was a Jerry Granelli drum solo. The live production also featured clips from the TV special and Jerry talking about how all the pieces came together to create this unlikely classic Christmas special. Each performance also included a local children's choir, who would begin and end the show. The production toured Canada every November and December until 2019, once touring to

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

. Granelli taught master classes on jazz composition at

Vancouver Community College Vancouver Community College (VCC) is a public community college in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1965, it is the oldest community college in British Columbia. VCC offers 79 certificate programs, 24 diploma programs, 9 award o ...

Personal life

Granelli suffered a fall in December 2020 that resulted in

internal bleeding Internal bleeding (also called internal haemorrhage) is a loss of blood from a blood vessel that collects inside the body, and is not usually visible from the outside. It can be a serious medical emergency but the extent of severity depends on b ...

. He spent three months recuperating in an

intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensive care medicine. An inten ...

before being discharged. He died seven months later on the morning of July 20, 2021, at his home in Halifax. He was 80, and hosted a workshop for the Halifax Jazz Festival two days before his death. He is survived by his second wife Nina Sebolt of Halifax, a son, bassist J. Anthony Granelli of Brooklyn, New York, another son, Vajra Granelli of Boulder, Colorado and a daughter, Alexis Granelli.

Discography

;''With the Vince Guaraldi Trio'' * '' Vince Guaraldi, Bola Sete and Friends'' (

Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

, 1963) * '' Jazz Casual: Paul Winter/Bola Sete and Vince Guaraldi'' ( Koch Jazz, 1963) * '' The Latin Side of Vince Guaraldi'' (Fantasy, 1964) * '' From All Sides'' (Fantasy, 1965) * ''

'' (Fantasy, 1965) ;''With

Jane Ira Bloom Jane Ira Bloom (born January 12, 1955) is an American jazz soprano saxophonist and composer. Early years Bloom was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Joel and Evelyn Bloom. She began as a pianist and drummer, later switching to the alto saxophon ...

'' * '' Art and Aviation'' (Arabesque, 1992) Selected * ''Sound Songs'' (JMT/Winter & Winter, 1986) * ''As Tears Go By & Some More Songs'' (Jazzwerkstatt, 1987) * ''Koputai'' (ITM, 1988) * ''One Day at a Time'' ( Koch, 1990) * ''A Song I Thought I Heard Buddy Sing'' (ITM, 1992) * ''Another Place'' (Intuition, 1994) * ''News from the Street'' (Intuition, 1995) * ''Broken Circle'' (Intuition, 1996) * ''Enter, a Dragon'' (Songlines, 1998) * ''Forces of Flight'' (Select, 1999) * ''Crowd Theory'' (Songlines, 1999) * ''Iron Sky'' (Love Slave, 2001) * '' The Only Juan'' (Love Slave, 2002) * ''The V16 Project'' (Songlines Recordings, 2003) * ''Sandhills Reunion'' (Songlines, 2005) * ''1313'' (Divorce, 2010) * ''Music Has Its Way with Me'' (Traumton, 2000) * ''What I Hear Now'' (Addo, 2015) * ''Dance Hall'' ( Justin Time, 2017) * ''Plays Vince Guaraldi & Mose Allison'' (RareNoiseRecords, 2020)

References

External links

Official website

Charlie Brown Christmas drummer reflects on iconic soundtrack
* *
CBC News: Meet Jerry Granelli

Ideas with Nahlah Ayed: Ordinary Magic: The Musical Genius of Jerry Granelli
{{DEFAULTSORT:Granelli, Jerry 1940 births 2021 deaths American emigrants to Canada Canadian jazz drummers MNRK Music Group artists Fantasy Records artists American jazz drummers Justin Time Records artists Jazz musicians from San Francisco RareNoiseRecords artists Sunnyside Records artists Naturalized citizens of Canada 20th-century Canadian drummers 21st-century Canadian drummers 20th-century American drummers 21st-century American drummers American male drummers Drummers from San Francisco