Sorry, Charlie Brown, “Zelda & Jazz” is my new nerdy holiday jam

As surreal as it sounds now, one of my fondest childhood memories in December was when my family and I would sit around and watch cable television specials, especially one about an existentially depressed round-headed kid and his charming pup. 

A Charlie Brown Christmas comes in at a run-time of an ephemeral 25 minutes (30 minutes, including commercials), but, like certain movies about ghosts, the real engine behind the special is its timeless music. Vince Guaraldi, mustachioed composer genius, takes staples like “O Tannenbaum”, “The Little Drummer Boy” and “Greensleeves” to new levels with his signature panache, while his own shuffling melancholy contribution “Christmas Time Is Here” runs parallel to Charlie’s own “kick-a-rock-down-the-road” mentality. It’s been my go-to background record every single Christmas of my adult life. But all things change, even traditions. 

This past June, video-game record label GameChops released “Zelda & Jazz”, the debut album by 3-piece jazz band The Deku Trio (inside joke for us Zelda fans), with Princess Keys—naturally—on piano, Lincoln Beats on percussion and G. Dorf on upright bass.

Upon being introduced to them this December, I transformed into geek mode and squealed like a toddler. Not only are all three supremely talented musicians, but their personas are represented by avatars based on the classic Triforce itself: Zelda, Link and Ganandorf. However, it was their selections that melted my heart faster than a crude snowball in Death Mountain Crater.

Songs in the key of Hyrule

The entire 12-song playlist of “Zelda & Jazz” is composed of covers culled directly from my favorite video-game ever: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a game that, similarly to “Charlie Brown” also hinged on music. Ocarina’s tunes weren’t just compositions tossed off nonchalantly by Nintendo composer Koji Kondo, they were dear friends. They were there with me 26 years ago where my only responsibilities were to survive high school and to gallop all over Hyrule with my horse Epona. In other words, pure uncut nostalgia. 

Through the filter of jazz though, these songs take on an entirely new life that fits me like a power glove as an adult. The soft fluttering notes from “Ocarina of Time”'s intro screen are transformed into a hushed, almost personal number that brought tears to a grown man’s eyes (not mine, someone else’s). “Lost Woods”’s peppy tempo is retained and expounded upon with dancing riffs, while G. Dorf’s warm bass notes are the perfect accompaniment to “Sheik’s Theme”’s off-beat melody. 

Funnily enough, the best tracks are songs that I didn’t even care so much for in the actual game. For example, the gypsy-like “Song of Storms” in Ocarina is only used to make a local windmill-keeper speed up his ceaseless cranking, much to his consternation. In the adroit hands of the Trio, this obscure tune jumps off the tracks and pops like something direct from John Coltrane’s “My Favorite Things”. Digging into some deeper cuts, my favorite song is the wonderfully messy 75-second “Jabu-Jabu’s Interlude” that wasn’t even in the game. It’s a loving dedication to Jabu-Jabu, a massive moody whale that Link has to maneuver around inside of for a while. 

So far this month, I must have played this album (along with The Walkmen’s “Bows + Arrows) upward of thirty times, and it’s not even Christmas yet. The nerd in me inhales it like oxygen, while the sentimental adult wears it like a snug familiar blanket. I’ve still managed to squeeze in some time for Mr. Gauraldi and his Peanuts gang a bit, but I’ll be soaking up “Zelda & Jazz”’s beloved notes long after the holiday is over.