Paul Winter
Paul Winter (born August 31, 1939) is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He is a pioneer of world music and earth music, which interweaves the voices of the wild with instrumental voices from classical, jazz and world music. The ...
in 1993. The album is a recording of a performance of Paul Winter's annual Winter Solstice Celebration, which takes place in the
Cathedral of St. John the Divine
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (sometimes referred to as St. John's and also nicknamed St. John the Unfinished) is the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. It is at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue in the Morningside Heights neighborhood ...
in New York City. The concert is a contemporary celebration of the longest night of the year, and the return of the sun. It features contemporary symbols for various parts of the celebration created by Winter. These symbols are both an artistic visual representation of something as well as a musical instrument played on during the performance. These symbols include the Sun Gong, a giant gong that is hit with yellow and red light, and risen 100 feet to the top of the cathedral ceiling, along with its player. Another is the Solstice Tree, a large sculpture of an evergreen tree, upon which is hung various cymbals, bells, chimes and gongs. The performance always features the Paul Winter Consort, and special guest musicians that Paul Winter has met or collaborated with, making it a celebration of the world's people and their music.
Track listing
# "Fanfare"
# "Tomorrow Is My Dancing Day"
# "Fog On The Hill"
# "Shaman"
# "Boon Song"
# "Buena Nueva - Good News"
# "Nevaga - Neva River"
# "Highland Heaven"
# "The Sparrow"
# "Hodie - Good People All"
# "TURNING POINT SUITE: Prelude: Marchade San Benito - Processional March of San Benito"
# "The Night Forest"
# "River"
# "Trickster"
# "Return Of The Sun"
# "Solstice Chant"
# "Christmas Day Is Come/Duet For The Longest Night"
# "Down In Belgorod"
# "Minuit - Midnight/Adeste Fidelis"
Personnel
Paul Winter Consort
*
Paul Winter
Paul Winter (born August 31, 1939) is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He is a pioneer of world music and earth music, which interweaves the voices of the wild with instrumental voices from classical, jazz and world music. The ...
heckelphone
The heckelphone (german: Heckelphon) is a musical instrument invented by Wilhelm Heckel and his sons. The idea to create the instrument was initiated by Richard Wagner, who suggested it at the occasion of a visit of Wilhelm Heckel in 1879. Int ...
pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...
*
Dorothy Papadakos
Dorothy Jean Papadakos (born 1960) is an American concert organist, composer, lyricist, playwright, and author. She is the former organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City (1990–2003), the first female organist to hold ...
congas
The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest) ...
, percussion
*
Sammy Figueroa
Sammy Figueroa (born November 16, 1948, The Bronx, New York) is an American percussionist. At 18 he joined the band of bassist Bobby Valentín and also co-led the Brazilian/Latin fusion group Raíces.
Selected Discography
timpani, Brazilian surdos, percussion
* Glen Velez – frame drum, percussion
Guests
*
Andes Manta
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S l ...
Nóirín Ní Riain
)
, background = solo_singer
, instrument = Vocals, surpeti, shruti box, Irish whistle, piano
, years_active = 1977 – present
, associated_acts = size2shoesMícheál Ó Súilleabháin
, website noirin.love, origin = Ca ...
*
Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble
The Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble ( rus, Ансамбль Дмитрия Покровского, r=Ansambl Dmitriya Pokrovskogo) was founded by Dmitri Pokrovsky (1944–1996) together with his wife and lifelong partner, Tamara Smyslova, in Moscow i ...