R.I.P. George Winston

[alpertfan]

I wasn't sure if this belonged here, or in the Music Forum, so I'll let the administrators sort that out. Pianist George Winston has died at the age of 73, following a ten-year cancer battle.

 

[Rudy]

We've lost a lot of big names this year.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I really liked his music. I took a date to a concert of his in the 1980s without really knowing what to expect -- all I knew was he played the piano, and my girlfriend liked piano music, so do the math. He opened with a song from a film called "The Snowman" that he had not recorded on one of his own albums, which I thought was kind of strange, but the song was fantastic. It wasn't until many years later that he finally recorded and released it, on the album Forest - it's the opening song, called "Walking in the Air." I got to shake hands with him once after a show he did in Miles City, MT, which is where he spent part of his youth and would return frequently to give charity concerts. He was a truly down to earth and friendly guy.

 

[Bobberman]

I have several of His albums. My favorites of his is "Night divides the day the music of the Doors" and his CD of Vince Guaraldi covers I don't remember the exact title at the moment and I have a best of compilation called Seasons he will be missed his solo piano music is definitely a must for anyone who enjoys instrumental music

 

[AM Matt]

Story from Wikipedia website: George Winston - Wikipedia

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I suppose it is worth pointing out that the reason this thread is off on its own and not in the In Memoriam thread for this month is, George Winston's early albums on the Windham Hill label were distributed by A&M, so he was really an A&M artist when he "hit it big." He's most recently recorded for his own label, Dancing Cat, which has been distributed by RCA lately.