7/14/2023 0 Comments George winstonThe music holds up year-round thanks to its simplicity and beauty. While Winston named his compositions after moments in time – months or seasons, he was really playing music about places – creeks, and trees, passes and roads in Montana and the high-plains and prairies. Winston invokes all of these on his landmark album December. WH 1025 George Winston December WHS C-1025įrozen branches overhead, snowy drives in the evening, and the quiet of a snow covered landscape. Thanks to Steve Backer, Fred Taylor, Bill Strauss, Sue Auclair, Eric Jackson, Ron Della Chiesa and Al Goldman. KEF speakers were used for audio monitoring and referencing on this recording. Matrix and Pressings by The Pressing Plant, Irvine, CAĪll selections published by Windham Hill Music (BMI) except where noted.Original half-speed mastering by Bernie Grundman, A&M.Mixed at Different Fur Studios, San Francisco.Remote Recording Crew – Bill Straus (Crew Chief), Nick Gutfreund and Bob Dickson.Recorded by the Fedco Audio Labs Remote Truck.The success of the Berklee Performance Center shows made it inevitable that other Windham Hill Evenings would follow, including Carnegie Hall, Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, the Wax Museum in Washington, DC, and Symphony Hall in Boston to date. It was during those two shows that these recordings were made. On October 9th, 1982, a group of ten Windham Hill musicians gathered for two shows at the Berklee Performance Center, Boston, Massachusetts. Samples Reflections/Lotus Feet Liner Notes and Credits Most telling about the label overall is Alex de Grassi’s introduction to Turning: Turning Back where he recounts how people tell him that they play the music at weddings and births – but “it’s really just about a trip Philadelphia.” de Grassi was writing about everyday places and moods – but touched a special chord with his fans. Relaxed but uplifting, complex but with clarity, An Evening with Windham Hill is a required recording for any fan of the label. While Ackerman, Winston, de Grassi continue to perform and record, often with even greater artistry than here, this album represents a clarity of vision and cohesion of styles that places it at the pinnacle of Windham Hill’s output. Truly one of the great Windham Hill albums of all time, “An Evening with Windham Hill” features the classic Windham Hill artists at artistic peak of the label. Another Hawaiian selection, the gently wrenching “Pua Sadinia ‘Not to Be Forgotten’,” is, hands-down, the album’s most elegiac selection.Īcquired taste though the idiosyncratic Winston may be, Night proves once more that he is a master of keyboard shadow and light.WH 1026 evening with windham hill live WH-1026 An Evening with Windham Hill Live featuring George Winston, Alex deGrassi, William Ackerman, Michael Hedges, Liz Story, Scott Cossu, Darol Anger, Chuck Greenberg Review Both compositions pair muted piano strings with ringing bell-like notes. The album’s most intimate and tender selection may be Winston’s rendition of Laura Nyro’s “He’s a Runner.” His compositions “Kai Forest” and the Hawaiian slack-key guitar-inspired “Wahine Hololio” see him returning to the nature themes he’s often pursued. In contrast, after almost hiding the “Hallelujah” melody beneath elaborate keyboard accompaniment, Winston obviously accentuates the melody in a fragmentary reading of Rod Taylor’s “Making a Way.” Maintaining a reverential atmosphere, Winston, a devotee of New Orleans pianists Professor Longhair, James Booker, Huey “Piano” Smith and Allen Toussaint, continues with an almost sacred interpretation of Toussaint’s “Freedom for the Stallion.”įor his rendition of the Leonard Cohen classic “Hallelujah,” Winston makes the usual choice of deemphasizing the famous melody that’s been recorded and performed by so many artists. Winston opens with “Beverly,” a warm and elegantly played original composition that’s part folksong, part hymn. There’s a prayerful quality, too, in this 16th solo piano album from the 72-year-old pianist who’s survived three bouts with cancer. His sensitive keyboard touch and beautiful tone do invoke the reverie many associate with the nighttime. A musician who describes himself as a creature of the night, pianist George Winston charts a nocturnal journey with Night.
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