![]() ![]() Winston described folk piano as being an outgrowth of his early interests in American folk music along with R&B and rock. In contrast, he said he only devoted about 10% of his playing to folk piano, although “the majority of songs on my recordings are in this style,” he noted. Lesser known than his predominant style was Winston’s interest in New Orleans-style R&B piano, and he even claimed that 90% of the songs he played were in that style - “mainly played at the solo piano dances I do” - although this was rarely a staple of his typically more sedate recordings. I just play the songs the best I can, inspired by the seasons and the topographies and regions, and, occasionally, by sociological elements, and try to improve as a player over time.” “Any other labels, including anything having to do with anything philosophical, or spiritual, or any beliefs, are also not accurate, as I have no interest in those subjects. The New Age genre was not one he identified with, either. “When the ‘Autumn’ album came out in 1980, I was first sometimes mislabeled as classical, but… I don’t have any classical influence… Around that time I was also sometimes mislabeled as jazz, but I also don’t play jazz on the piano,” he added, although noting that “I am inspired some by the jazz traditions, and jazz was my main focus on the organ before I switched to the piano in 1971).” “I came up with the melodic style that I play in 1971, and I have always called it ‘Folk Piano’ (or more accurately ‘Rural Folk Piano’), since it is melodic and not complicated in its approach, like folk guitar picking and folk songs, and has a rural sensibility,” he wrote on his website. (He also released his own albums via his personal imprint, with distribution through Windham Hill through the mid-2000s and RCA thereafter.) But he will forever be predominantly identified as one of the most famous pianists of the late 20th century. In fact, he started up his own label, Dancing Cat Records, largely because of his interest in releasing albums by artists playing the Hawaiian slack-key guitar. Winston’s interests went beyond piano, as he also released acoustic guitar and harmonica recordings. His success continued into the ’90s, when three more of his albums went gold: “Summer,” “Forest” and a tribute album, “Linus and Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi.” He had two other albums that reached the platinum level (“Autumn” and “Winter Into Spring”), also in the early ’80s. It was one of the releases that put the Windham Hill label on the map. ![]() “December” was his bestselling album, by dint of being considered a Christmas album, being certified triple-platinum in the U.S. George quietly and painlessly left this world while asleep on Sunday, June 4, 2023. We are deeply saddened to share the news that George Winston has passed away after a 10-year battle with cancer. His 16th and last album, “Night,” was released by RCA Records in May 2022. Winston won a Grammy for “Forest” and was nominated five other times. He went on to sell more than 15 million albums, according to reps. He recorded his first solo piano album, “Ballads and Blues,” in 1972 for the Folkways label, but didn’t become a household name until releasing the seasonally themed “Autumn” and “December” in 19, respectively. Winston started his career performing what he called “folk piano,” although in later years it was sometimes categorized as part of the New Age genre at the peak of that instrumental movement, or even filed under classical, although he eschewed any of those labels. “Throughout his cancer treatments, George continued to write and record new music, and he stayed true to his greatest passion: performing for live audiences while raising funds for Feeding America to help fight the national hunger crisis along with donating proceeds from each of his concerts to local food banks.” “George courageously managed serious cancers, including having a successful bone marrow transplant for Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) in 2013 at City of Hope, in Duarte, California, that gratefully extended his life by 10 years,” said the announcement. The announcement came through his social media and website and said he “painlessly left this world while asleep” following a decade-long battle with cancer. George Winston, one of the bestselling instrumental pianists in the world during his heyday in the 1980s and ’90s, died Sunday at age 73.
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