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| Paul Winter's Winter Solstice + Three New Albums 37TH ANNUAL WINTER SOLSTICE CELEBRATION: DECEMBER 15, 16, 17 Performances will take place on Thursday, December 15 at 8:00 p.m., Friday, December 16 at 8:00 p.m., and Saturday, December 17 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street, Manhattan. THE PERFORMERS - Gary Brooker, the founder, pianist, composer and voice of the iconic band Procol Harum, will be our special guest - Theresa Thomason, our beloved gospel singer, will be featured - the 25 dancers and drummers of the Forces of Nature Dance Theatre - the Paul Winter Consort Eugene Friesen, cello (playing his 37th consecutive Winter Solstice Celebration) Paul McCandless, oboe and English horn Paul Sullivan, keyboards Eliot Wadopian, bass Jamey Haddad, drums Tim Brumfield, on the Cathedral's great Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ Scott Sloan, the rising sun-gong And I'll be playing soprano sax THE MUSIC OF SOLSTICE, 2016 Here are some of the new highlights: Abdel Salaam, director of the Forces of Nature Dance Theatre has choreographed a new work to the Procol Harum hit "Conquistador, " which Gary will sing and play with the Consort Gary Brooker will sing Procol Harum classics, along with a number of surprises, accompanied by the Consort Oboist Paul McCandless will be featured center-stage in an homage to fellow oboist, Sir George Martin (who played oboe in the Sadler Wells Ballet Orchestra before he became a producer) Cellist Eugene Friesen will play his unique version of one of the Bach pieces that George Martin loved Theresa Thomason will sing "The Silence of a Candle, " from the Icarus album (See lyrics) Gary Brooker will be singing a tribute to his friend John Lennon. (There is a precedent for this in the lineage of the Solstice events. The first Winter Solstice Celebration, in December of 1980, took place 11 days after John was murdered, and an elegy to John was played in that concert.) A TALE OF TWO SONGS "A Whiter Shade of Pale, " and "Icarus" This year's Solstice will feature a reunion, and new adventure, with long-time friend, Gary Brooker, of Procol Harum. Each of our bands has been blessed with a signature song that has endured for decades; and each song has a saga. Both songs will be integral to our Solstice Celebration. "A Whiter Shade of Pale, " co-composed by Gary with lyricist Keith Reid, propelled Procol Harum to international fame. It was the #1 single of 1967, (an amazing feat at the height of the Beatle years), and sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is the most played record in the history of British broadcasting. "Icarus, " composed by Consort guitarist Ralph Towner in 1970, has gone perhaps the furthest, mileage-wise, of any song I know, having travelled all the way to the moon. The astronauts of the Apollo 15 mission, in July of 1971, took on board with them a cassette of the Consort's live album Road, which included "Icarus, " and they gave its name to one of the new craters they discovered. OUR MENTOR-IN-COMMON, SIR GEORGE MARTIN Gary Brooker's association with George began in 1963, when he signed with Parlophone Records. George conducted the orchestra on Procol Harum's "Simple Sister, " and also produced Gary's first solo album, No More Fear of Flying. Gary said: "I can't think of anybody that was such an all-round brilliant producer, catalyst, composer, arranger, sailor, or any field you can think of, who was also the nicest bloke you could ever hang out with." After Sir George passed away earlier this year, I attended the memorial service at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, and Gary and I reconnected. Over lunch then, we decided it was time to "do something together, " but this time to actually play together, not just have our respective bands on the same bill (as we were at the Fillmore East in '71). The Winter Solstice Celebration seemed the perfect context for a collaboration, and it was our mutual wish to dedicate the event to Sir George. THREE NEW ALBUM RELEASES These new musical releases will be available at our upcoming Winter Solstice Celebrations in New York. We will be using a new medium this year - Droptags. This memorabilia has an access link and download code for you to reach the album through online hosting. The national release will be next year, on CD. This will also include the full booklet. For those who purchase droptags, we will email you a copy of the booklet upon official release. For those of you looking for Christmas gifts, we have 50 of each available for pre-order. Orders must be submitted before December 12th, in order to be shipped for Christmas. MORNING SUN: ADVENTURES WITH OBOE - PAUL MCCANDLESS An anthology of some of the finest solos by the greatest improvising double-reed player on the planet. Paul McCandless was an original member of the Consort in the late 1960s and continues to play an integral part in many of the group's milestone albums and events over the decades, including Paul Winter's Winter Solstice Celebrations in New York. McCandless is also a member of the renowned jazz quartet Oregon. A special localized release for the Winter Solstice Celebration as part of the show's tribute to Sir George Martin, Morning Sun is dedicated to Sir George, fellow oboist and producer of the opening track on the album, "All the Mornings Bring, " from the Consort's landmark album Icarus. ICARUS - PAUL WINTER CONSORT Icarus is the Consort's most famous album, produced by Sir George Martin, who called it "the finest record I have ever made." The reissue is for this December's Winter Solstice Celebration in tribute to Sir George. The album has been remastered with contemporary digital technology to enable us to bring out even more of the magic of the original recording. Our long-time engineer, Dixon Van Winkle, has done a masterful job. ROAD - PAUL WINTER CONSORT Road is the 1970 album, recorded live in concert, by the same Consort players who later made the Icarus album. Astronauts aboard Apollo 15 took a cassette of Road to listen to on their way to the moon, and then named two craters after their favorite tracks: "Icarus" and "Ghost Beads." Out of print for decades and never issued on CD, Road is finally remastered and reissued for release now as a limited edition droptag. write your comments about the article :: © 2016 Jazz News :: home page |