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THE PAUL WINTER CONSORT
"One of the more unusual aspects of the Consort has been the infusion of world music elements long before it became a buzzword." (John Diliberto)
The story of Living Music is interwoven with that of the Paul Winter Consort, two entities which evolved during a forty year saga of adventure-through-music, beginning with Paul Winter's college jazz sextet in the early 1960s.
Touring with his Jazz Sextet, close contact with the musical community of Brazil and a growing interest in the natural world and voices of the earth awakened in Paul Winter the desire to move into a broader realm of music and explore a richer texture of sound. To this end, he formed the Paul Winter Consort.
"I borrowed the name 'consort' from the ensembles of Shakespeare's time, the housebands of the Elizabethan Theater, which adventurously blended woodwinds, strings and percussion, the same families of instruments I wanted to combine in our 'contemporary' consort"
Formed by Winter in 1967, the Paul Winter Consort became one of the earliest exponents of world music, combining elements from various African, Asian, and South American cultures with jazz.
"World music has always been part of the Consort mix. In the mid-1960s, Winter made a conscious turn from the button-down be-bop and bossa nova jazz that he recorded on three albums for Columbia. Emerging out of jazz, 60s folk eclecticism and eastern influences via the Beatles and rock, the Consort was a group where you were as likely to hear darbuka and sitar as saxophone and guitar. [...] Winter continues these themes today" (John Diliberto)
| 1990's Consort - Photo © J.Almquist |
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The Consort has evolved with time. For more than 20 years, Living Music has been the recording context for the Paul Winter Consort and Paul Winter's community of colleagues, which includes some of the world's finest jazz, classical and ethnic musicians, along with notable voices from the great symphony of wildlife. Musicians such as David Darling, Paul McCandless, Ralph Towner, Glen Moore, Collin Wolcott, Nancy Rumbel, Jim Scott, Rhonda Larson, P.Halley, Russ Landau, Glen Velez, Paul Halley, Eugene Friesen, Susan Osborn, Arto Tuncboyaciyan, Paul Sullivan, Mickey Hart, Oscar Castro-Neves, Nóirín Ní Riain, Jordan Rudess, Davy Spillane and many others have performed in or with the Consort, and can also be heard on Living Music albums.
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