George Winston Albums (14)
What The Critics Say
In a sense, this second seasonal album follows an opposite direction from Autumn, its hard, isolated notes and stop-and-start style gradually giving way from the stasis of winter to the growth and movement of spring. It's a good album for beginning your day. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
'Gulf Coast Blues & Impressions: A Hurricane Relief Benefit'
Release Date 9/5/2006
Tracks 10
Label RCA
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What The Critics Say
Folks may think George Winston is a little late on his benefit record for the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. They're wrong. This record will be issued a week after the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and in the middle of hurricane season. The sheer amount of work and money needed to rehab the region is so astronomical it'll never be too late. Winston is donating all of his proceeds to the certain organizations around the region, and the label has pledged its "net profits." These are two different things, but on to the music. The bottom line here is that Winston proves he can shake it on this set. He's not James Booker, whose "Pixie" he covers wonderfully here. Nor is he "Fess" (Professor Longhair), Dr. John (a cover of "Creole Moon" is on this set), or his friend Henry Butler -- whose crib in the Lower Ninth Ward got wiped out by Katrina. But he can play this music, and his own compositions are soulful, direct, and loaded with aural imagery from the Big Easy tradition and that's what counts. His read of "Creole Moon" may not possess the loose, joyous, funky butt swing of Dr. John's ballad, but it does contain plenty, plenty soul; as an interpreter, Winston coaxes some of the more sophisticated compositional aspects of the tune out through the blues. Likewise, "Pixie" is a bit more formal than the fluid jump of Booker's version, but Winston gets the spirit across and kicks it into high blues stride. He composed his own extrapolation of the cut as well, called "Pixie #3 (Gôbajie)" the latter named after his cat. Apparently there will be a "Pixie #4 (Gôbajie)" on a future disc. His blues is very pronounced and strident, perhaps too hard an argument, but it moves nonetheless. The best of the covers is Butler's "The Breaks"; he nails it. His interpretation is different and leans heavily on the left hand, but it's got the funk. His own short ballads and the brief "Stevenson" are lovely in their way, relaxed and engaging simultaneously. "When the Saints Go Marching In" offers the single greatest testament to Winston's technical and soulful abilities, and he gives the tune an extended workout nearly 12-minutes long. His middle register playing is deep blues brined in stride-style boogie-woogie with a gorgeously long intro. The album closes with "Blues for Fess," a New Orleans elegy that comes whispering out of the gate and keeps its quiet dignity, even while caressing the blues. This is perhaps the most engaging Winston album ever, and the single one anyone who's ever been interested in him should own. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
A love letter to his home state, Montana is George Winston's most varied album since 1999's Plains and probably his most personal album, ever. His last album -- 2002's Night Divides the Day -- focused on his first musical inspiration, the Doors. Montana goes deeper into his heart, back to childhood memories of his family's house, lullabies, and first encounters with songs that would later hold great personal meaning. It's this kind of genuine wonder of it all that makes Montana so great. Winston is freer than usual on some of the tracks, playing like France's most precious dreamer, Erik Satie, must have; sometimes with great care and sometimes open-ended. On "Valse Frontenac," Winston stops on what seems like the second-to-last note, a cliffhanger move Satie might have pulled on you in anything-goes-Paris, 1900 or so. Like so many other moments on the album, it's fragile, but purposeful enough to not be maudlin. Surrounding these peculiar twists with popular nostalgia like "Goodnight Irene" and that song to which you first danced with a girl -- in Winston's case it's Sam Cooke's "You Send Me" -- are more common moments with no less sincerity, and it keeps Montana from being an album only Winston understands. His brief but informative liner notes also help the listener relate, but the varied repertoire might surprise -- or at worst, alienate -- those who only know his "one mood" albums. Moving away from the mood-based albums like December and Autumn lets the pianist get risky and play things by a diverse group of folk like the 19th century composer Rentaro Taki and Frank Zappa, whose "The Little House I Used to Live In" goes from cerebral to homey in Winston's caring, miniature interpretation. You see "Montana" on the cover and "Zappa" in the credits and you think you're going to sing, "Moving to Montana soon/Going to be a dental floss tycoon," but that's not Winston, too obvious. George always hints he knows, and then goes and plays it the way he wants to: not overly academic, heartfelt, and with nothing to prove. It's made his detractors declare his music "wallpaper," but they'll have a hard time doing that with Montana. Don't let it scare you. The little bits of dissonance are tempered with welcoming warmth and heart. Montana is filled with the goods and bads, the regrets and triumphs of home, and all the sentimentality and peculiarity of going back. The way Winston sorts it all out is fascinating and anything but wallpaper. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'Night Divides the Day: The Music of the Doors'
Release Date 10/8/2002
Tracks 13
Label Windham Hill
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What The Critics Say
This seminal new age pianist has sold zillions of recordings with songs that reflect the quieter moments of the human spirit. It's clear from his phenomenal tribute to Vince Guaraldi and this irresistible tribute to the Doors that it takes the music of others to truly tap into a deeper place that gives variety, spunk, and magical energy to his playing. What makes this project so intense is the variety of moods he creates -- the imaginative way he modulates from dark and haunting, lower-register chord poundings and upper-register whimsy. The most dramatic example of this contrast comes in the first few minutes of "Riders on the Storm," which begins building with ominous horror movie-type tones, then adds a swirling wind of high-toned harmony on top of the dark melody. The opener, "Spanish Caravan," has a cavernous echo and a classical chamber music vibe, while the somber take on "The Crystal Ship" is more in the mainstream new age realm. "Love Street" is given a bright, meditative, upper-register quality, while "Love Me Two Times" and "Love Her Madly" are bouncy, stride-piano influenced, toe-tapping affairs. It's a tribute to Winston's honest love of the Doors' influence that he puts their trademark "Light My Fire" lower in the tracking, as if not to be overly commercial. He plays its ten minutes in split moods, from the funky mix of minor chords on the melody and major chords and high-register improvisation on the soloing section. Not to mess with success, but one hopes that Winston can always balance his own compositions with these types of labors of love. ~ Jonathan Widran, All Music Guide
'Remembrance: A Memorial Benefit'
Release Date 11/6/2001
Tracks 6
Label Windham Hill
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What The Critics Say
The new age pianist's massive popularity, combined with the proceeds going to the September 11th disaster relief fund, should ensure strong sales for this unique six-song sampler showcasing all of his musical talents in just under a half-hour. Those who love the quiet graces of his ivory tickling will gravitate to the melancholy "Lament" and somewhat more hopeful "Remembrance," but the real surprises here come from his slack key and harmonica work. He runs Windham Hill's Dancing Cat imprint, producing numerous top slack key guitar players. Winston shines on the sparse, high-toned "Where the Sun Rises First," which was written by genre masters Moses Kahumoku and George Kahumoku, Jr.. He also concludes the set with the sweet strains of "Daughters and Sons," also a slack key classic. His harmonica solo medley of "Farewell," "Kindness Emerging," "America, My Country Tis of Thee," and "Taps" features a dual-toned, lingering note approach which approximates Scottish bagpipes -- a perfect patriotic elegy to the victims. ~ Jonathan Widran, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Like 1994's Forest, George Winston's 2000 album Plains is inspired by the subtle beauty of America's landscapes. Pieces like "Dubuque" and "Muliwai" evoke regions as diverse as Montana's fields and Hawaiian shores, but Winston's distinctive piano stylings unite the songs into a cohesive vision. Though his interpretation of Sammy Cahn's "Teach Me Tonight" is unremarkable, his cover of Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" and originals like "Cloudburst," "The Swan," "Rainsong," and the title track showcase Winston's unique ability to transform nature into expressive piano pieces. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
'Linus & Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi'
Release Date 9/17/1996
Tracks 16
Label Windham Hill
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What The Critics Say
Combining the whimsical yet elegant compositions of Vince Guaraldi and the mellow, restrained playing of George Winston, Linus & Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi is a mostly happy marriage of the composer's and performer's styles. On much of the album, Winston tends to tone down the breeziness of Guaraldi's performances, opting for a gentler, reflective approach that sparkles on "Skating" and "Young Man's Fancy," but tends to make "The Great Pumpkin Waltz" and "Treat Street" sound a bit washed out. However, sprightly renditions of "The Masked Marvel," "You're in Love, Charlie Brown," "Peppermint Patty," and "Eight Five Five" more than make up for the occasional lag and spotlight Winston's virtuoso piano playing. Though it's not necessarily intended as a best-of Vince Guaraldi collection, Linus & Lucy could certainly be used as one; however, it's Winston's distinctive style that makes it one of the best solo piano new age albums of the '90s. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
'Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes'
Release Date 1/1/1995
Tracks 26
Label Dancing Cat/Windham Hill
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What The Critics Say
Summer is George Winston's fourth collection of seasonably themed solo piano pieces. His deft touch on the keyboard is intact -- in fact, it's probably Winston's light hand that allows him to blend folk music, new age introspection, and jazz improvisation so ably. Opener "Living in the Country" finds an Irish traditional inside a Pete Seeger number, while "Loreta and Desireé's Bouquet, Pts. 1 & 2" evoke the countryside of Winston's native Montana. "Early Morning Range" is even clearer in its influence, crisp notes ringing out over tranquil chords like the first sight of the mountainside as you depart a field of tall sunflowers. Winston revisits Carmine Coppola's theme for the film Black Stallion, gives Randy Newman's "Living Without You" just the right touch of loneliness and warm memory, and the twinkling coda of the traditional "Corrina, Corrina" is the perfect foil to its roly-poly Americana main section. Other Summer highlights include an interpretation of Phillip Aaberg's "Spring Creek," and the Winston original "Hummingbird." ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
