George Cromarty

13 de septiembre 2014

Compré este elepé de un vendedor ambulante en un pasillo en la Universidad de Puerto Rico en 1986. Eso era cuando se permitían vendedores ambulantes en la facultad de humanidades. Cromarty, quien falleció en 1992, tocaba "new age guitar", subgénero musical de guitarra acústica en el cual el intérprete usualmente toca sin acompañamiento. Sus principales exponentes, William Ackerman, Michael Hedges y Alex Degrassi, grababan en la casa disquera Windham Hill en las décadas de los 70, 80 y 90.
Wind in the Heather fue lanzado por Dancing Cat Records, una subsidiaria de Windham Hill manejada por el músico George Winston.

Dice la Wikipedia:
George Cromarty (September 15, 1941^[1] – February 12, 1992^[2]) was an American folk guitarist and singer. He is best known as the co-writer, with Ed Rush, of the song Plastic Jesus,^[3][4] though he went on to record three albums of solo guitar music in the 1970s and 1980s. The Folk Music Sourcebook likened his playing style to John Fahey's,^[5] and George Winston cites Cromarty as a musical influence.^[6] His music has been heard on the soundtracks of many films, including the Coen brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis.^[7] The "Columbia record exec" in Inside Llewyn Davis was named "Mr. Cromarty" in honor of Cromarty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Cromarty

George Winston: "Colors/Dance"

Esta es la primera pieza del primer disco que George Winston grabó para la discográfica Windham Hill en 1980. Este disco fue el que dio comienzo al sub-género musical conocido como "new age piano". Winston es de los pianistas más geniales y originales que he oído en mi vida, y "Colors/Dance" es mi canción favorita de él.


George Winston grew up mainly in Montana, and also spent his later formative years in Mississippi and Florida. During this time, his favorite music was instrumental rock and instrumental R&B, including Floyd Cramer, the Ventures, Booker T & The MG’s, Jimmy Smith, and many more. Inspired by R&B, jazz, Blues and rock (especially the Doors), George began playing organ in 1967. In 1971 he switched to the acoustic piano after hearing recordings from the 1920s and the 1930s by the legendary stride pianists Thomas “Fats” Waller and the late Teddy Wilson. In addition to working on stride piano, he also at this time came up with this own style of melodic instrumental music on solo piano, called folk piano. In 1972, he recorded his first solo piano album, BALLADS AND BLUES 1972, for the late guitarist John Fahey’s Takoma label.

His latest solo piano release is LOVE WILL COME – THE MUSIC OF VINCE GUARALDI, VOL. 2 (released 2/2/10), which features compositions by the late jazz pianist, including pieces from the Peanuts® TV specials.

Since 1980 George has released ten other solo piano albums: AUTUMN (1980), WINTER INTO SPRING (1982), DECEMBER (1982), SUMMER (1991), FOREST (1994), LINUS & LUCY-THE MUSIC OF VINCE GUARALDI (1996), which features compositions by the late jazz pianist, including Cast Your Fate to the Wind and pieces from the Peanuts® TV specials; PLAINS (1999), which was inspired by his Eastern Montana upbringing, NIGHT DIVIDES THE DAY - THE MUSIC OF THE DOORS (2002), and MONTANA - A LOVE STORY (2004) and GULF COAST BLUES & IMPRESSIONS – A HURRICANE RELIEF BENEFIT (2006). 

FUENTE/SOURCE: http://www.georgewinston.com/us/content/biography

Tibet, part II - Una de las piezas más mágicas y fantásticas de Mark Isham

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mark Ware Isham (born September 7, 1951) is an American trumpeter, synthesist, and film composer. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, electronic, and film.^[1][2] As of 2011, he is responsible for composing the score for the TV series Once Upon a Time. His discography is extensive and varied, including with his participation with units like Group 87 , and David Torn's Cloud About Mercury project, and sessions with people like Terry Bozzio, Bill Bruford and Doug Lunn.

******

Tibet is an electro-tribal world music symphony composed to honor that country. Mark Isham handles the task tastefully and tactfully. He uses Japanese haiku as a basis for rhythm and repetition. The only ethnic instrument is the bamboo flute. Isham's sound design incorporates traditional western instruments in honor of Tibet and its culture. This is not Tibetan music, but it does evoke imagery of the Himalayas and "the place where the earth and the heavens meet." The atmospheres are subtle and mysterious. Isham's soundscapes waver from new age to ambient to minimalism to worldbeat. The fluctuations are random. This disc will appeal to fans of Jon Jenkins, Greg Klamt, John Flomer, andPatrick O'Hearn.

Jim Brenholts
http://www.allmusic.com/album/tibet-mw0000653172

Bola Sete

12 de septiembre 2014


El disco Ocean del extraordinario guitarrista brasileño Bola Sete salió originalmente en 1975 en la discográfica Takoma. En 1981 fue relanzado por Lost Lake Arts, una subsidiaria de Windham Hill dedicada a rescatar del olvido grabaciones de música instrumental meritoria de artistas como George Winston, Shadowfax, Modern Mandolin Quartet, Paul Horn, y los guitarristas Robbie Basho, Pierre Bensusan y John Renbourn.

Dice la Wikipedia sobre Sete, cuyo nombre real era Djalma de Andrade:

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Bola Sete's name means "Seven Ball". In Brazilian billiards, the seven ball is the only black ball on the table, and Bola got this nickname when he was the only black member of a small jazz group.^[1] He studied guitar at the Conservatory of Rio and he started performing with his own sextet and local samba groups while he was still a student. His early influences were guitarists Django Reinhardt,Charlie Christian, Barney Kessel, and Oscar Moore (of the Nat King Cole Trio), while he was also captured by the sound of the big bands that were touring South America at that time (Dizzy Gillespie, Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman). His career started in 1952, where he played various clubs and hotels around Italy for four years. Then, he returned to Brazil and started touring all of South America, during which time the manager of the Sheraton hotels noticed him and decided to bring him to the US to play in the hotels. He played for a while in New York's Park Sheraton, later moving to San Francisco to play in the Sheraton Palace. Dizzy Gillespie was staying there at the time and listening to Bola Sete playing every day. When Gillespie decided to bring his pianist Lalo Schifrin to the hotel, he discovered that Lalo and Bola had already met and played together in Argentina. This meeting was the beginning of Bola's success in the US. In the fall of 1962, Gillespie took the guitarist to the Ninth Annual Monterey Jazz Festival, where he enjoyed a huge success.^[1] After that, he toured for a while with Gillespie and finally returned to San Francisco, where he joined the Vince Guaralditrio. Bola was already well known in the US, and his partnership with Guaraldi yielded several well-received recordings. After staying for a couple of years with Guaraldi, Bola formed his own trio with his fellow Brazilians Sebastian Neto (bass) and Paulinho (drums). With his own trio, he appeared at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1966 and released an album of his performance, which peaked at #20 on the US Jazz chart.^[2]

Michael Hedges - Aerial Boundaries

De los mejores guitarristas que han existido… ever.

Modern Mandolin Quartet Intermezzo Windham Hill CD WD 1091

http://www.modernmandolinquartet.com/

A chamber group using the instruments of the mandolin family (two mandolins, mandola and mando-cello) to perform classical and contemporary compositions from around the world.


This ensemble was formed in the mid-'80s as the brainchild of Mike Marshall, an internationally acclaimed mandolin player best known for his work with David Grisman and Montreux. Marshall was looking for a way to bring respectability to an instrument primarily known for bluegrass and quaint folk tunes. Toward this end, he established a string-quartet-style group featuring the extended family of mandolin instruments. Marshall and Dana Rath play standard mandolins (which take the place of violins), John Imholz plays mandocello (with a range similar to the cello), and Paul Binkley holds up the middle with his mandola (the alto counterpart to the viola). Together they interpret well-known classical works and premiere newly commissioned compositions of "serious mandolin music."

Linda Kohanov
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-modern-mandolin-quartet-mn0000477722/biography

Daniel Hecht

12 de septiembre 2014

http://windhaming.com/2010/02/06/whs-c-1013-daniel-hecht-willow/

Descubrí la música de Daniel Hecht en 1986 cuando me entró la fiebre de música new age, especialmente de la discográfica Windham Hill. Había una copia de su disco Willow en la tienda Discomanía en Plaza Las Américas. Nunca lo compré pero oí una selección de Willow en una compilación Windham Hill Sampler, que compré ese mismo año.

Diez años después me encontré una copia elepé de Willow en WGDR, la emisora radial comunitaria de Vermont donde yo iba casi todos los días a trabajar como voluntario. Lo puse en mi programa y un amigo radioescucha llamó para informarme que Hecht vivía en el mismo pueblo que yo, ¡Plainfield!, lo cual significa que tengo que haberle pasado por el lado unas cuantas veces en esos años. ¡Qué pequeño es el mundo!

Resulta que Hecht ya no toca música, y que es mucho más conocido como novelista. Miren como empieza su entrada de Wikipedia:

Daniel Hecht is an American novelist who has written Skull Session (1997), The Babel Effect (2000),Puppets (2001), and is also known for the Cree Black series which contains City of Masks (2002), Land of Echoes (2004), and Bones of the Barbary Coast (2006). His novels have been published in 12 languages and 75 editions throughout the world, including best-sellers in the United States, England, Holland, and Israel. 

George Winston / Colors/Dance

6 de septiembre 2014

Esta es la primera pieza del primer disco que George Winston grabó para la discográfica Windham Hill en 1980. Este disco fue el que dio comienzo al sub-género musical conocido como "new age piano". Winston es de los pianistas más geniales y originales que he oído en mi vida, y "Colors/Dance" es mi canción favorita de él.


George Winston grew up mainly in Montana, and also spent his later formative years in Mississippi and Florida. During this time, his favorite music was instrumental rock and instrumental R&B, including Floyd Cramer, the Ventures, Booker T & The MG’s, Jimmy Smith, and many more. Inspired by R&B, jazz, Blues and rock (especially the Doors), George began playing organ in 1967. In 1971 he switched to the acoustic piano after hearing recordings from the 1920s and the 1930s by the legendary stride pianists Thomas “Fats” Waller and the late Teddy Wilson. In addition to working on stride piano, he also at this time came up with this own style of melodic instrumental music on solo piano, called folk piano. In 1972, he recorded his first solo piano album, BALLADS AND BLUES 1972, for the late guitarist John Fahey’s Takoma label.

His latest solo piano release is LOVE WILL COME – THE MUSIC OF VINCE GUARALDI, VOL. 2 (released 2/2/10), which features compositions by the late jazz pianist, including pieces from the Peanuts® TV specials.

Since 1980 George has released ten other solo piano albums: AUTUMN (1980), WINTER INTO SPRING (1982), DECEMBER (1982), SUMMER (1991), FOREST (1994), LINUS & LUCY-THE MUSIC OF VINCE GUARALDI (1996), which features compositions by the late jazz pianist, including Cast Your Fate to the Wind and pieces from the Peanuts® TV specials; PLAINS (1999), which was inspired by his Eastern Montana upbringing, NIGHT DIVIDES THE DAY - THE MUSIC OF THE DOORS (2002), and MONTANA - A LOVE STORY (2004) and GULF COAST BLUES & IMPRESSIONS – A HURRICANE RELIEF BENEFIT (2006). 

FUENTE/SOURCE: http://www.georgewinston.com/us/content/biography

02 - Fred Simon ~ Time and the River

April 4 2014

This is the first Fred Simon song I heard, it's featured in the Soul of the Machine electronic music compilation released by Windham Hill records in 1987. I had already heard Simon playing keyboards for the Jerry Goodman band. If you dig 1970's prog, then Simon's music is for you. 

Paul Dondero / Out to Play

February 2 2014 / 2 de febrero 2014

This Piano Sampler album was my introduction to the amazing music of Windham Hill Records. I bought it in December 1985 at the record store in the basement of Guaynabo's San Patricio shopping mall. This piece by Paul Dondero is my fave from that record.

El elepé Windham Hill Piano Sampler fue mi introducción a la maravillosa música del sello disquero Windham Hill. Lo compré en diciembre de 1985 en la tienda de discos del sótano del centro comercial San Patricio en Guaynabo. Esta pieza por Paul Dondero es mi favorita del disco.

Paul McCandless - "Sojourner"

16 de febrero 2014 / February 16 2014

Descubrí la música del oboista y saxofonista Paul McCandless escuchando su banda Oregon en los 80, cuando yo era estudiante universitario. Sojourner es el corte inicial de su genial disco Heresay, que salió en el sello disquero Windham Hill.

I discovered the music of oboeist and saxophone player Paul McCandless listening to his band Oregon back in the 1980s when I was a college student. Sojourner is the first song in his excellent solo album Heresay, released on the Windham Hill label.