Podcast 869: A Conversation with Paul Winter

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show

Every December since 1980, Paul Winter and his colleagues have celebrated the Winter Solstice at New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine with a feast of music from cultures around the world. Over these past 40 years, Paul Winter’s Solstice Celebration has become New York’s favorite holiday alternative to the Nutcracker and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, as well as becoming a “can’t miss” for lovers of Jazz and New Age music.

This December, with their beloved cathedral closed for renovation, the 42nd Annual Winter Solstice Celebration will be a comprehensive video retrospective available to a worldwide audience. Entitled SOLSTICE SAGA, Paul Winter's 42nd Annual Winter Solstice Celebration will feature iconic performances from this legendary event’s four decades. This one-of-a-kind video will premiere as a livestream via Stellar at 7:00 p.m. EST on Friday, December 17; 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. EST on Saturday, December 18; and 2:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, December 19.

In keeping with the inclusivist embrace of the solstice and the welcoming, intercultural, ecumenical tradition of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, SOLSTICE SAGA will include performances by 12 special guests, including Brazil’s Ivan Lins and Fabiana Cozza; Russia’s Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble; Gary Brooker, lead singer of Procol Harum; Ireland’s Davy Spillane and Nóirín Ní Riain; Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary; and Abdoulaye Diabaté of Mali, along with the African drumming and dancing of the Forces of Nature Dance Theatre.

Paul Winter Consort players include Paul Winter on soprano sax, cellist Eugene Friesen, double-reed master Paul McCandless (formerly of Oregon fame), keyboardists Paul Halley and Paul Sullivan; flutist Rhonda Larson; drummers Jamey Haddad (Paul Simon) and Ted Moore; bassist Eliot Wadopian and gospel singer Theresa Thomason.

From the early days of his college jazz sextet, which toured 23 countries of Latin America for the State Department and performed the first-ever jazz concert at the White House for the Kennedys in 1962, to his later ensemble, the Paul Winter Consort, Paul Winter’s concert tours and recording expeditions have taken him to 52 countries and to wilderness areas on six continents, where he has traveled on rafts, dog sleds, mules, kayaks, tugboats and Land Rovers. He has recorded over 50 albums, of which seven have been honored with Grammy Awards.

Podcast 869 is my conversation with Paul, as we talk about the history of the Winter Solstice shows, how he “invented” New Age music, and how his travels in Latin America forever changed his musical approach. Musical selections include "Sun Singer" from Light of the Sun and "A Bun Dance" from Paul's Sextet Recordings Count Me In 1962-1963.

More information about Paul Winter's 41st Annual Winter Solstice Celebration is available at the Stellar Tickets website.