IF YOU GREW UP IN THE 1980s OR 90s, YOU EITHER HAD, OR KNEW SOMEONE WHO HAD, AN ALBUM BY PIANIST GEORGE WINSTON. AT A TIME WHEN ARTISTS WERE RACING TO SEE WHO HAD THE FASTEST CHOPS, WINSTON JUMPED OFF OF THE BANDWAGON AND CREATED ALBUMS THAT EMPHASIZED SPACE AND MELODY, LEADING THE CHARGE INTO WHAT BECAME THE “NEW AGE” MUSIC OF WINDHAM HILL, ALSO POPULARIZED BY GROUPS LIKE OREGON AND GUITARIST ALEX DE GRASSI.
WHAT MANY PEOPLE DON’T KNOW IS THAT WINSTON’S CAREER STARTED AS A BLUES AND BALLADS PLAYER, WITH HIS 1972 DEBUT A GUARANTEE TO FOOL PEOPLE ON A BLINDFOLD TEST. HIS LATEST ALBUM, RESTLESS WIND, ALSO A MIX OF PRE-BOP JAZZ, BLUES AND MODERN TUNES.
WE HAD A CONVERSATION WITH WINSTON, WHO PUT HIS CAREER AND THE TIMES OF HIS POPULARITY INTO PERSPECTIVE
WHO INTRODUCED YOU TO STRIDE PIANO TEDDY WILSON AND FATS WALLER?
Before I played piano I played organ, and I was inspired, like everybody else, by Jimmy Smith.
One day I noticed a record in the library the said Jimmy Smith Plays Fats Waller , so I checked it out and liked it. A couple of weeks later I was in the library and saw some Fats Waller records and said “Oh, let me listen to him.” It was a reissue called Valentine Stomp, that the great Mike Lipscomb produced. He produced five Fats Waller reissues in the 60s and 70s.
I put the record on, heard the first and thought “OK, it’s solo piano and not organ. Not bad.” I got involved in nothing but stride piano for about six years. I didn’t listen to anything else, I didn’t buy anything else. It’s not the majority of what I do now, but it’s still an important part of my set. I’m still inspired by Fats Waller.
I came up the same time, in 1971, with the melodic piano and the folk piano as something to complement the uptempo stuff. With the ballads, I didn’t want a lot of stuff going on; I wanted more tonality like the way a singer would sing a ballad. Staying more with the melody and in the key. I came up with that style as to what the piano had to offer. Fats Waller indirectly inspired that by getting me to the piano instead of the organ.
I later started adding some Vince Guaraldi pieces, and much later started hearing some Professor Longhair recordings and became much more immersed, to this day, with the New Orleans rhythm and blues piano tradition. James Booker, Doctor John, Jimmy Butler and Professor Longhair…so many great pianists there.
Each one is very individualistic, but drawing from the traditions of Louisiana. Virtually every New Orleans rhythm and blues pianist goes through Professor Longhair one way or another. People will say “Oh, that’s so be beautiful” and that was my response, so I tried to get that as well.
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“Virtually every New Orleans rhythm and blues pianist goes through Professor Longhair one way or another”
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DID YOU EVER SEE ANY OF THEM PERFORM?
I did a lot of work with Henry Butler in the studio. Dr. John, John Cleary and Alan Toussaint I’ve seen but not James Booker or Professor Longhair.
THAT NEW ORLEANS PIANO IS REALLY THE FOUNDATION OF ROCK AND ROLL, LIKE WITH LITTLE RICHARD, ETC.
Yeah, Professor Longhair is the root of all of that, at least for inspiration. It’s very hard to play like him, but you can get inspired by it. I was also inspired by the Doors in 1967 and wanted to get an organ and play in a band. In 2002 I did an album of their songs called Night Divides the Day. I’m working on Volume Two, and I’ve still got to do “Roadhouse Blues.”
The three composers that I’ve tried to do everything of are Professor Longhair, The Doors and Vince Guaraldi. Not all of the pieces work out because none of the songs were solo piano pieces to begin with. Professor Longhair often had vocals and almost always had a band, Guaraldi had a trio, quartet, quintet or sextet and the Doors were a band that was organ oriented.
DID YOU EVER HAVE A DESIRE TO DO AN ALBUM IN A TRIO FORMAT?
No. I think of my playing solo is my same way of speaking English. I just do it and don’t think about it. Most people go small-to-bi; here’s the bass part, here’s the flute part and here’s the trumpet part. I ****go big-to-small; I analyze what they’re doing in a recording that I like and see how to incorporate that into a solo piano, and see what the piano wants to do.
Interpreting is a three-pronged kind of thing. What are the song and the composer doing, and secondly what works in the solo instrumental, what does the piano want and not want? What does and doesn’t sound right? The third is what do I, the performer, want? All three of those have to come to a decision at some point. It can happen right away or it can take years.
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“interpreting is a three-pronged kind of thing. What are the song and the composer doing, and secondly what works in the solo instrumental, what does the piano want and not want? What does and doesn’t sound right? The third is what do I, the performer, want? All three of those have to come to a decision at some point”
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IN 1972, YOU HAD BALLADS AND BLUES. WHAT CHANGED TO MAKE YOU A CHARTER MEMBER OF NEW AGE MUSIC BY 1980?
There has only been melodic music. I think everybody just came up with it independently.
I was a consultant to the Windham Hill label in 78-79, trying to get certain guitarists to record, (song), which I ended up doing myself on the Dancing Cat label. I approached guitarists as “This is a great guitar label” and I got a bunch of guitarists that I wanted to get recorded. So I started corresponding with Windham Hill in that way.
I had all of the Autumn songs ready and recorded that. People have always like melody and ballads. There have always been vocal ballads.
After John Fahey started his own label in 59 it took over on guitar what I did with Ballads and Blues . People were inspired to play solo guitar. It’s a very individualistic instrument. It’s like singing; you’ve got to do it your own way.
MOST MUSICAL CHANGES COME WITH MORE VOLUME, LIKE BEBOP OR PUNK ROCK. WERE YOU SURPRISED BY THAT A MUSICAL STYLE CAUGHT ON THAT EMPHASIZED QUIETUDE?
I never really followed the popularity of it. I just focused on practicing and playing. Ballads and Blues didn’t really sell anything when it first came out, so it was kind of a surprise. But, I’m the kind that would record whether it sold one copy or a million. And I’ve done both!
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“I’m the kind that would record whether it sold one copy or a million. And I’ve done both!”
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DID YOU EVER WONDER WHY ALL OF THOSE “SEASONS” ALBUMS SOLD SO WELL?
No. I just think each individual has their own process and choice in life, including their taste in music. Each taste is unique and valid, whatever it is. It probably comes down to what song you like. When you’re listening to a song, you’re listening to one song.
For a listener, it comes down to what song do you like, and for a player, it’s what songs I want to play. It’s really the same thing. Each individual has their choice, and whether it involves me or not, it doesn’t matter to me; it’s what do they want?
YOU CALL YOUR STYLE OF MUSIC “RURAL” OR “FOLK” MUSIC. DID YOU EVER BRISTLE OR EMBRACE THE LABEL “NEW AGE” MUSIC OR “SMOOTH JAZZ”.
I don’t have any of those temperments. I just play the songs; they’ve even been called “classical” before, and I’ve never, ever played classical!
The thing is to categorize yourself, to have a pretty concise idea, like “folk piano” is what I would call it. Here is “stride” and here is “folk” music. It’s like a list; here is “hardware” and here is “software”. You ****have to have a category; you have to call something “something” if you’re going to be organized.
It’s good to do that to yourself, because if you don’t, somebody else will, and they may not get it right.
YOUR LATEST ALBUM WAS A DIFFERENT ROAD, WITH SONGS BY BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD AND STANDARDS PLAYED IN STRONG STRIDE FORM. WHAT WAS ITS IMPETUS?
Over a lot of time these eleven songs as instrumentals just worked out. Regarding vocals with words, it just comes down to “what is this as an instrumental?” as that is my voice, regardless of what the original song is.
I love the originals songs, but then I’m doing the playing here, so I’ve got to make some decisions. There’s no singer, it’s solo piano. Over time these eleven songs, just like the seven Autumn songs, they just came together. On Autumn (Check song title) “Rose and three stars” was one song, but in case someone wanted to listen to just a part of it, I divided it up into four songs with those individual titles. I let the endings ring out on, so why not put a little blip there that you could find the next song easier with the needle. (laughs)
Originally it was a twenty minute song, and when I played it in concert, I would just announce it as “Would wind see stars”
ON THIS RECENT ALBUM YOU AGAIN INCLUDED A DOORS SONG
Yes, it fit better on the initial Volume 1 or my upcoming Doors album. It’s a pretty odd song, but it fit to have it kind of close to the edge.
Recording songs is one thing. Usually I just record a bunch of songs here and there and later I start coalescing them into something, and sometimes I never use it after all for some reason. Kind of like letting the moisture form in a cloud. ***Music is more like something I notice than try to make it happen.
I try to practice and play well, but as far as what to play, that’s like noticing the weather. I may have researched songs, I may have heard a song forty years ago, like the Sam Cooke piece or The Doors song. Over time I just think, “let’s try these together”. It takes years of listening to songs, and when I’m in the studio and not touring I’ll listen to what I’ve done, and figure out where it fits in. Like The Doors song fit the theme of this latest record.
LET’S CHANGE GEARS A BIT. YOU’VE GONE THROUGH SO ME SERIOUS HEALTH ISSUES. WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT YOURSELF FIGHTING THESE CANCERS?
Well, it’s great that we’re in the 21st Century for all of that. After the bone marrow transplant, I was staying in the village of The City Of Hope and was practicing to get read for touring again. This recent record wouldn’t have happened without The City of Hope. Not without their treatment, not without their piano. I practiced there every day.
If you’ve got a project, go to it. Just show up. There’s some discipline involved for things to happen, but whatever your project is, whether you’re working on a document or a book or an instrument, the thing is to just show up . That’s the big thing; show up with the instrument and see what happens.
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For a listener, it comes down to what song do you like, and for a player, it’s what songs I want to play
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WAS THERE A BOOK, PHILOSOPHY OR PERSON THAT HELPED GET YOU THROUGH THOSE DARK TIMES?
No. Just The Seasons. I just transplanted Early Spring. The earth is regenerating when I do; that was serendipitously good timing.
Also, your Self will take care of you. Your Self wants to survive really badly. Like, try holding your breath! (laughs)
I had a good upbringing in general, but you’ve just got to think “What do I do when I get through this?”
It used to be that bone marrow transplants were good only up to someone at the age of 30; now they go to 75. That’s the 21st Century medicine. My doctor, Steven Forman told me that they now learn more in a week than they used to in a year.
YOU’VE ALSO DONE A SOLO HARMONICA ALBUM!
Since I’m a solo instrumental player, and a song player by nature, in the 70s I added solo guitar, because some pieces just didn’t fit on the piano. I later added the solo harmonica because there were certain pieces that I wanted to play, but just weren’t for the piano. On both the guitar and harmonica you can accompany yourself on another part, just like you do on piano. On guitar, there are the bass notes on one part of the hand and can do the melody with another part of the hand.
You can block the middle of the harmonica with the tongue and play out of both sides of the mouth, so you can accompany yourself. You don’t have as much range with the piano, but some things work out. But some things never work out, or maybe it’s “not yet”. ***The key with any song is to be inspired by it. That’s my relation to a song, or it’s not going to work when I play it.
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“There’s some discipline involved for things to happen, but whatever your project is, whether you’re working on a document or a book or an instrument, the thing is to just show up”
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WHAT FUTURE GOALS DO YOU HAVE?
I’m working on a third volume of Vince Guaraldi, the second volume of The Doors and maybe another Gulf Coast Blues Impressions. I always try to play better and get my live sets better.
WHAT HITS YOU ABOUT VINCE GUARALDI?
I’ve always loved his songs. I heard “Cast Your Fate To The Wind” when it first came out in 1962, and then heard the first of the Peanuts TV episodes in December of 65 with A Charlie Brown Christmas. Like everyone I loved “Linus and Lucy” and when it was on TV, the credits went by so quickly that I didn’t realize it was Vince Guaraldi.
The next day I was at the record store, and was looking for organ records. I saw on the wall a poster for A Charlie Brown Christmas. I looked at it and saw Vince Guaraldi up there. The “Cast Your Fate” guy? I had to get everything he does!
So I tape all of the Peanuts episodes that he did. I purchased all of his albums. Later the family gave me a ton of his tapes, so I’m very lucky on that.
I love his songs, but I don’t play much like him. He’s more of a jazz sensibility and I’m more of a rhythm and blues sensibility as far as improv goes.
On organ, for me it’s all about mainstream jazz, but when I switch to piano those organ licks don’t sound that good. Each instrument has strengths and limitations. As does your own ability.
WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR LEGACY TO BE?
That’s up to each listener and each individual’s viewpoint.
AS WITH ALL OF HIS ALBUMS, GEORGE WINSTON’S CONVERSATION IS CLEAR, WELL THOUGHT OUT AND ACCESSIBLE. HE’S CARVED OUT A UNIQUE CAREER FOLLOWING HIS OWN MUSE, AND HE’S HAPPY TO BE PLAYING BEFORE GIANT CROWDS OR A SMALL GROUP OF FRIENDS. HIS PERSONAL TONE AND DELIVERY ARE AN INSPIRATION TO MANY OF US AFRAID OF HAVING OUR OWN VOICE.