Paul Brownlee McCandless Jr. is an American multi-instrumentalist and founding member of the American jazz group Oregon. He is one of the few jazz oboists. He also plays bass clarinet, English horn, flute and soprano saxophone.
The Paul Winter Consort is an American musical group, led by soprano saxophonist Paul Winter. Founded in 1967, the group mixes elements of jazz, classical music, world music, and the sounds of animals and nature. They are often classified as "new age" or "ecological jazz", and their musical style is often called "Earth Music". The group has had many lineup changes since it was founded. Long-standing members currently in the group include Paul Winter, cellist Eugene Friesen, Berklee alumnus bassist Eliot Wadopian, jazz oboist Paul McCandless, and percussionist and frame drum specialist Glen Velez. Past members who were part of the group for a considerable length of time include Paul Halley, Susan Osborn, Oscar Castro-Neves, Russ Landau, David Darling, Jim Scott, Dorothy Papadakos, and Rhonda Larson.
Glen Velez is a four-time Grammy winning American percussionist, vocalist, and composer, specializing in frame drums from around the world. He is largely responsible for the increasing popularity of frame drums in the United States and around the world. Velez is married to Loire.
Nguyên Lê is a French jazz musician and composer of Vietnamese ancestry. His main instrument is guitar, and he also plays bass guitar and guitar synthesizer.
Curtis/Live! is Curtis Mayfield’s first live album, after leaving The Impressions. Originally released in May 1971 as a double LP on Mayfield's Curtom label, the album's 16 tracks — along with Mayfield's interstitial raps on the politics of the day — were recorded at Paul Colby's 230 seater Bitter End nightclub in New York City. According to John Abbey, who at the beginning of the 1970s was editor of the UK magazine Blues & Soul, Mayfield and his band's first set at a Bitter End date in January 1971 comprised the bulk of the music presented here. Mixed primarily with Eddie Kramer at Electric Lady Studios, the album features Master Henry Gibson playing percussion, Craig McMullen on rhythm guitar, Joseph "Lucky" Scott on bass, and Tyrone McCullen on drums.
Eugene Friesen is an American cellist and composer.
John Marshall is an American percussionist. He has worked with many musicians including David Darling, George Benson, Benjamin Verdery, and the Paul Winter Consort.
Ballad Essentials is an album by Susannah McCorkle, released in 2002.
Missa Gaia/Earth Mass is an album released by Paul Winter in 1982 for Living Music. He co-wrote the mass with Paul Halley, Jim Scott, Oscar Castro-Neves, and Kim Oler. The title stems from two languages, Latin and Greek. The Earth Mass was one of the first contributions made by Paul Winter when he and his Paul Winter Consort became the artists in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. The mass includes the usual text, such as the Kyrie and the Agnus Dei, and also other text, hymns, and instrumental pieces. The mass is an environmental liturgy of contemporary music. It features the instrumentation of the Paul Winter Consort along with a choir, vocal soloists, and the calls of wolves, whales, and many other animals that are woven into the pieces, sometimes used as the melody: The "Kyrie" is derived from the call of a wolf, the "Sanctus" from the songs of humpback whales. Man literally learns how to sing from animals. Missa Gaia is a mass that is equally ecumenical as it is ecological. It involves all voices of the earth. Musically the ecumenical character is underlined by a web of various musical traditions and styles: from Gregorian chant of the Middle Ages through Protestant hymns, Romantic organ music, African instruments, Latin American rhythms, elements of Gospel song to contemporary rock ballad. The name "Missa Gaia" refers to the "Gaia hypothesis" of scientists James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis which states "that the entire range of living matter on Earth, from whales to viruses, and from oaks to algae, could be regarded as constituting a single living entity, capable of manipulating the Earths's atmosphere to suit its overall needs and endowed with faculties and power far beyond its constituent parts" . Since it was first written, the mass is performed annually at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine at The Feast of St. Francis which is the blessing of the animals. The first complete performance in Europe was presented by the GospelChor Saarbrücken (Germany) in 1995 under the direction of Wilhelm Otto Deutsch.
Canyon is an album released in 1985 by Paul Winter, featuring his Paul Winter Consort. It was recorded in a small side canyon located in the Grand Canyon, which the members of the Consort nicknamed Bach's canyon, due to its 7-second reverberation, which made a perfect place to record music. The original idea of playing music in the canyon began when Winter played his saxophone while standing on the edge of the canyon, and felt that the long echoes coming back from the canyon almost seemed like the Earth was responding back to him.
Paul Halley is a keyboardist, vocalist and composer. He is perhaps best known as being a member of and composer for the Paul Winter Consort.
Wintersong is an album released in 1986 by Paul Winter, featuring the Paul Winter Consort. The album is a collection of lesser known folk melodies from North America and Europe, arranged in a mixed style of jazz and classical, and played with Brazilian rhythms.
Earthbeat is a landmark album by saxophonist Paul Winter. Recorded and released in 1987, the album was a joint project between the Paul Winter Consort and the Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble from Russia, then the Soviet Union.
Solstice Live! is a live album released by Paul Winter 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 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.
Prayer for the Wild Things is an album released by Paul Winter in 1994. The album was commissioned to accompany a painting by artist Bev Doolittle, which is also titled Prayer For The Wild Things. A portion of this painting is seen on the album cover.
Crestone is an album by Paul Winter Consort, released in 2007 through the record label Living Music. The album is named after the community of Crestone, Colorado. The album was recorded in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the Great Sand Dunes, and the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado, all of which are located near Crestone. In 2008, the album earned the group a Grammy Award for Best New Age Album.
Miho: Journey to the Mountain is an album by Paul Winter Consort, released in 2010 through the record label Living Music. The album was commissioned by the Miho Museum in Kyoto, Japan to be a musical celebration of the museum. The museum is a unique piece of architecture, built on the top of a mountain, and partially tunneling into it, giving the experience of the museum being part of the Earth. The album was recorded in the corridors of the museum, which are naturally reverberant. In 2011, the album earned the group a Grammy Award for Best New Age Album.
Spanish Angel is a live album by Paul Winter Consort, released in 1993 through the record label Living Music. In 1994, the album earned the group a Grammy Award for Best New Age Album.
Icarus is the fourth album by American musical group Paul Winter Consort. It was recorded in 1971 for the Epic Records label and released in 1972. It was re-released by Epic in 1978 and by Living Music in 1984. The album was produced by George Martin.
