Charlie Brown Goes to The Nutcracker

Ron’s Quintet performs regularly at Hotel St Julien, Boulder and Cafe Sole, Boulder, with Andrew Vogt on sax, Curtis Fox on trombone, Dave Weinand on bass, and Andreas Schmid on drums.  Guest artists have included Mark Diamond, Ron Bland, Wilson Winner, Bob Montgomery. John Mills, Al Hermann, Todd Reid, Kevin Smith, Andy Salas, Matthew Floyd, Carl Schultz, Jill Frederickson, Don Elwood, Chris Lee, Scott Simon, Brianna Harris, Dirk Dickson, Rob Dando, Peter Knudson, Joe Chisholm, and Max Wagner. Ron is the former Director of the Colorado Jazz Workshop Wednesday Night 18 piece ensemble.He is the former Musical Director and pianist in the Don Elwood Big Band, Berthoud, the former leader of the 16 piece Rhythm Machine, (Philadelphia) and has performed with What’s Cookin’ at Jazz at Jack's in Denver.

Charlie Brown Goes to the Nutcracker 

Did you know that Charlie Brown went to see the Nutcracker Christmas ballet? 

Everybody knows that Charlie’s favorite music is jazz. That’s the music he hears in his head and it reflects his world: simple joys of being a kid, sad moments of disappointment, and the recurring optimism of growing up. Yes! He will win a baseball game. Yes! A girl will like him. 

He doesn’t know much about The Nutcracker; except that the music was composed in Russia...and there will be ballerinas. Maybe one of them will like him!! 

So Charlie gets on his iPhone to find what Russian music is all about. (Maybe you didn’t know he had an iPhone!). Then he gets on the bus, puts in his ear buds and starts to listen to the Russian themes...he imagines that the bus is a horse-drawn sleigh like they have in Russia...he passes skaters on the pond. 

He thinks about Peppermint Patty, Freda’s curly hair and the little redhead that he saw in school. At The Nutcracker, he has a wonderful night of Christmas music filled with memorable themes of ballet music and jazz...mostly jazz. 

And this is the musical suite that captures just what Charlie heard that day. 

This album was 10 years in the making. Originally performed at Everyday Joe’s Coffee House in Fort Collins, Colorado., It is now a “packed house” show performed throughout the Christmas Season at Hotel St Julien, Boulder, Colorado. 

The music of Charlie Brown and The Nutcracker has a timeless, multi-generational appeal. And in this album, the inter-weaving of classical music themes and jazz tunes molds that appeal into an  energizing performance. It’s fun to watch how much people really enjoy this music. Many families now include the show as part of their seasonal celebration every year.

This cohesive quintet has remained intact for these 10 years, and the close group interaction on the album enhances the music itself. The result is a happy, fun, refreshing take on what has become Christmas musical tradition.

Ron LeGault is a jazz pianist and band leader who lives in Lyons, CO. The quintet members themselves are seasoned music educators and in-demand performers in Denver and Northern Colorado. The quintet also performs modern jazz music throughout the year.

The musicians:

Ron LeGault                piano   

Andrew Vogt               tenor & baritone sax, flute, clarinet

Curtis Fox                    trombone

Dave Weinand            bass, bass clarinet

Andreas Schmid          drums