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" Life seems to go on without effort when I am filled with music ."
―--- George Eliot

"Cast Your Fate to the Wind" is an American jazz piece written and originally recorded by Vince Guaraldi, with lyrics later added by Carel Werber. It won a Grammy Award for Best Original Jazz Composition in 1963. It was included on the album Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus, released on April 18, 1962 by the Vince Guaraldi Trio on the Fantasy Records label.
It has been extensively covered. In Australia, a vocal version by Mel Tormé was a hit in 1963. In 1965, the British easy listening group Sounds Orchestral rewrote the song away from the jazz influenced midsection and took it to #5 in the UK, #10 on the US pop chart, and #1 for three weeks in May on the US Easy Listening chart.
Composer Guaraldi probably would have remained a well-respected but minor jazz figure had he not written an original number to fill out his covers of Antonio Carlos Jobim/Luis Bonfá tunes on his 1962 album, Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus. Fantasy Records released "Samba de Orpheus" as a single, trying to catch the building bossa nova wave, but it was destined to sink without a trace when radio DJs began flipping it over and playing the B-side, Guaraldi's "Cast Your Fate to the Wind". A gentle, likeable tune, it stood out from everything else on the airwaves and became a grass-roots hit.. While "Cast Your Fate To The Wind" by Guaraldi achieved modest chart success as a single in 1963, a cover version two years later by British group Sounds Orchestral cracked the Billboard top 10 (in the spring of 1965). Unlike many songwriters who grow weary of their biggest hits, Guaraldi never minded taking requests to play it when he appeared live.
Here Kai Warner brings us his version of this fabulous standard and his arrangement (with violins and brass alternately playing their part of the song) clearly deviates from the original jazz composition. Lovers of that (inimitable) original Guaraldi rendition will most probably lift their eyebrows when hearing this easy listening version but .... for many people (including myself) the easy listening recordings often are their "first encounter" with such great melodies and usually this "first love" gets a special place in their hearts... ("Cast your fate to the wind" by Kai Warner was on the very first easy listening compilation LP I ever bought and hearing Kai's version today brings back many wonderful memories :)
And isn't that what music is all about after all ....... ?
From the 1977 album "Famous Instrumental Hits" here's Kai Warner with Vince Guaraldi's fabulous composition "Cast Your Fate To The Wind".
Enjoy !