RIP George Winston

[El Lobo]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Winston

 

https://deadline.com/2023/06/george-winston-dead-pianist-grammy-winner-1235410106/

 

https://variety.com/2023/music/news/george-winston-dead-solo-piano-instrumental-music-1235635327/

 

[Iconoclast]

The only thing that could make this song any sadder

 

 

[Floyd Tatum]

Sure liked the sustain pedal, didn't he?

[niacin]

I remember in 1986 a kid in my high school music class who worked in a record store brought a record to school one morning and put it on.  An Invitation to Windham Hill.  Sampler.  $1.99 (most LPs were about AUS$15).  'Thanksgiving' was one of two George Winston tracks on that album.  I bought a copy on the way home that day.  Landing in the midst of synth pop and hair rock it was a breath of fresh air.  Mostly acoustic.  George Winston, Michael Hedges, Will Ackerman, Mark Isham, Shadowfax.  New Age music was a few years away from being a thing.  I have a short playlist, mainly early Windham Hill, that does the trick when I need something to calm my mind.  

 

RIP

[Magpel]

RIP! I ridiculed him mercilessly as a younger music snob. Now I enjoy it. Nowhere near the complete 180 that Phillip Glass enjoyed in my tastes—from loathe to love—but all part of my increasing receptivity to what I consider ”state” music. Not music of the State, lol, but music intended to produce and support particular states of mind and body…kinda into it now. Young me is outraged. Mr. Winston did his thing as he understood it and had a great career. 

[Doerfler]

RIP. 

 

Listening to "Thanksgiving" is something I have done every Thanksgiving morning here is the USA for decades now.

 

(It's on his "December" recording, released in late 1982)

[Outkaster]

Wow that's too bad.

[timwat]

Rest in peace, Mr. Winston.

 

His music came onto my radar the same time as most of us older members; the rise of Windham Hill. 

 

For me, it sort of opened my eyes to the possibility of solo piano in a non-bebop-jazz-heavy-technical-chops kind of way. Which was a good thing for me to be introduced to, especially at that time when I was so taken with very technical playing and genre. 

 

FWIW, these days I think about dying and mortality more than I probably ought to. I have a number of friends, family, and acquaintances who are sick, dying, or have died. I've lost a fair bit in my life, and not everything is great in my life.

 

More thoughtful music, or music that encourages contemplation, takes a bigger place in my listening than in other seasons.  And for making a mark with his music, played the way he wanted to play it, no matter what other musicians and critics might say, that's a big deal in my book.

 

A very big deal.

[Josh Paxton]

Sad news. I met him in the '90s, and we remained casual friends ever since. He always stuck me as a remarkably kind and generous man. How we met is its own story...

 

When I was studying with Ellis Marsalis and digging heavily into James Booker's music, Ellis once mentioned a series of unreleased live Booker recordings that were made when Booker was playing piano in the lobby as the pre-show music for a musical, in which Ellis was playing in the pit band for the actual show. Every night Booker would play for about an hour before the show, and the sound engineer recorded his set. This was several nights a week for several months. And he said those tapes changed hands a number of times, "but they eventually ended up in California with a guy named George Winston. You know who that is?" I said yes, I had a couple of his albums in high school. Then he said "You know what? Let me see what I can do." He picked up his office phone, called one of his contacts at Sony records, and asked if they could get him a phone number for George Winston's management. He got the number, called it on the spot, and left a voicemail introducing himself and saying what he was calling a bout.

 

Then later that night, George Winston called me at home.

 

Bearing in mind that I was some early 20-something piano student whom he'd never heard of, he basically started the conversation by saying "So you're a pianist and you're into Booker, is that right? Then let me send you copies of these 60 or so cassettes I have..." That was it. That was all he needed to know. And we continued to have a lovely conversation about New Orleans piano and music and life in general for probably another hour or so. And then sure enough, about three weeks later a box, probably 18 inches square, full of meticulously hand-labeled James Booker bootleg cassettes arrived at my door. That was the single event that sent me deeply and intractably down the Booker rabbit hole, and played a hugely significant part in how I would come to play the piano.

 

I met George in person not long after that when he played a show in Biloxi, and sent me tickets and backstage passes and the whole thing. Every bit as gracious in person as he was on the phone, and I was impressed with some things he played that I didn't expect. After that we kept in touch mostly via email, and he was always a huge supporter or mine. There was one year when he was in New Orleans and he threw a "piano players' birthday party" for Henry Butler, where a bunch of us got together and played for each other. I would describe the roster as "all the heavy cats, and me." Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Jon Cleary, Tom McDermott, Joe Krown, I think Davell Crawford was there, and quite a few more. It was a pretty amazing time. At one point I said to George, "I haven't even told Henry happy birthday yet." And George said, "Oh, it's not really his birthday. I just used that as an excuse to get all these guys together."

 

Fun fact: he hated the term "new age piano" and never described his music that way. But he reluctantly accepted that that's the term people had settled on, and he lived with it. And while that's the style he became known for and made his name and his money with, he was a more-than-decent New Orleans style player too. While his more popular recordings never moved me much, I could understand the appeal for those who dug them, and I was happy for the success he had with them. I might have to go check them out again.

 

I'll miss you, George, as will a bunch of us.

[Ivan May]

I always enjoyed George Winston and consider his December album to be one of the greatest piano albums ever recorded. A few friends of mine turned me on to his music years ago and I will say that December and Autumn are great albums. Definitely have to give it a listen now.

 

RIP George Winston

 

 

[MathOfInsects]

"Waltz for the Lonely" is beautiful. 

 

[Al Quinn]

RIP Mr. Winston

[bill5]

ah New Age...back before that became a broad umbrellla that had all this mindless repetitive "soundscape" stuff lumped in under it. The early days of Windham Hill and guys like this were the best. RIP

[analogman1]

RIP, he left us with some great music and carved out a unique style...

[Adan]

He always struck me as someone who became immensely popular for playing the music he would have played even if no one was listening.