George Winston’s Autumn 💫

 

I’m listening to this marvelous disc right now: it’s not a Keith Jarrett’s clone, but a sincere, unique artist playing his gorgeous music, a music I gladly return at every Autumn comeback… and so I did for the last fifty years! 

Autumn is here. Nothing quite starts the season like the opening notes of the album that would give Windham Hill its first platinum record. 

What few people know is that "Colors/Dance," the piece that opens the album, wasn't played as the long, unbroken journey we hear.

In an interview with Will Ackerman for the upcoming anniversary concert program, he said he'd been deep into Keith Jarrett's Köln Concert at the time and loved the idea that a solo piano record could hold one long arc. So he sent George out of the room, and he and engineer Harn Soper spent a couple of hours assembling what became "Colors/Dance." While Will stepped away, Harn took it even further. When Will came back, his first reaction was surprise because it went beyond what he had imagined. Then it sank in.

Will is refreshingly honest about it. He's not sure how much of the idea was his and how much was Harn's. 

George was not happy at all at first. His piece had been reshaped. Will sat with him, talked about Jarrett, and at one point George asked, "You really like this?" Will said yes, he really did. George trusted him, listened again, and let it stand.

Nearly twenty-four minutes later, Side One of Autumn became one of the most beloved in the Windham Hill catalog, and for a lot of us, the sound of this season.

So put it on today. Where were you the first time you heard Autumn?

For more stories like this, join us at the Windham Hill 50th Anniversary Live event - a day of concerts and conversations with Will Ackerman, Liz Story, Alex de Grassi, Michael Manring, Barbara Higbie, Darol Anger, Scott Cossu, Fred Simon, and Ira Stein - November 1 at the Freight in Berkeley, CA.

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