出生日期 / 地点:1949年 / 美国密歇根洲
乔治·温斯顿(George Winston)是1949年生于美国密西根州的作曲家兼钢琴家。1972年录制个人首张演奏专辑《Ballads&Blues》。其柔美优雅极富文人气息清新独特的曲风,使他成为新世纪(New Age)音乐界中极具代表性的卓越人物。乔治·温斯顿的曲目是钢琴美学史上最纯净逸品之大成,他的音乐舒俊流畅、旋律优美,极具可听性。是新世代音乐中极具代表性的卓越人物。他因其优异的音乐才华而多次获得格莱美大奖和格莱美联社大奖提名的极高荣誉。乔治温斯顿最让大家熟知的还是他改编的钢琴曲《帕尔贝尔的卡农》。
曲风
乔治·温斯顿的曲目是钢琴美学史上最纯净逸品之大成,他的音乐舒俊流畅、旋律优美,极具可听性。是新世代音乐中具有代表性的卓越人物。他因其优异的音乐才华而多次获得格莱美大奖和格莱美联社大奖提名的极高荣誉,每年都因乐迷们的强烈要求而进行100 多场全球巡演,受到世界各地观众们的热忱欢迎。他成长的蒙他那州的季节变化景象,丰富了他在创作时的灵魂。
他的大多数作品因为能使听众感到大自然的风景,并且反映了四季的精髓,给听众闲适、轻松、怡然、清新的感觉。乔治·温斯顿被誉为“新世纪音乐之父”,而他本人却回避这个说法,他称自己的音乐为“乡村田园钢琴曲”。
音乐经历
乔治·温斯顿出生于1949年1月1日,在蒙大拿州度过了他的童年时光之后,他先后在密西西比和弗罗里达州居住。如今,他几乎只能听流行和R&B(节奏布鲁斯)器乐曲(比如FLOYD CRAMER后斯的作品、冒险乐队、THE VENTURES乐队、BOOKER T &THE MGS乐队以及KING CURTIS等)以及其他R&B艺术的作品,比如RAY CHAR LES和SAM COOKE。在电台的准点新闻之前,如果播放器乐节目的话,他会聚精会神听上半小时。 受蓝调、摇滚、R&B和爵士乐的影响,乔治从1967年开始弹管风琴和电钢琴。到了1971年,在听了传奇的摇摆爵士乐钢琴演奏家汤姆斯,胖,沃勒和特迪威尔森的后期作品之后,他转向弹奏钢琴。从那时起,他开始致力于在钢琴独奏上建立自己的风格,自己创作作品并编写其他音乐家的作品。1972年,乔治在吉他演奏家约翰.非赫的厂牌TAKOMA旗下录制了他的第一张钢琴独奏专辑,名为《钢琴小品:民谣与布鲁斯》。乔治从事的音乐,其风格实际上是2/3的R&B+摇滚+主流音乐作为元素,然后辅以1/3的优美旋律。他至今为止发行的唱片中后者是主要特色。
民谣与布鲁斯
乔治·温斯顿于1972年录制了自己的第一张专辑为《民谣与布鲁斯》(Ballads and Blues),当时并没有得到多大的反响。而直到1979年,威廉·阿克曼(William Ackerman)与他谈起为他的新唱片公司录制专辑的事情。起初,乔治·温斯顿只是用夏威夷吉他弹奏了一些简单的音乐作品,之后有为电台的夜间节目做背景音乐,这样也就成为了乔治·温斯顿的专辑《秋日》(Autumn)。在音乐中,他将秋日描述成为万圣节的颂歌。这张专辑《秋日》后来被听众大受好评。之后他的专辑《十二月》(December)和《辞冬》(Winter into Spring)都获得了白金唱片的称号,并在1996年的的格莱美奖中获得最佳新世纪音乐专辑。由于他对史努比花生漫画的喜爱,他在1996年制作了音乐专辑《Linus & Lucy-The Music of Vince Guaraldi》,这张专辑是献给格拉第(Vince Guaraldi)为花生漫画所做的音乐。在2002年他将19世纪60年代门户合唱团的音乐制作成专辑《Night Divides the Day - The Music of the Doors》,与其不同的就是音乐使用的是钢琴的独奏,并且音乐更加的恬静怡然。
钢琴独奏名曲精选辑
乔治温斯顿之四季(All the seasons of george winston)是首张收录乔治温斯顿二十五年来精彩绝伦的的钢琴独奏名曲精选辑。这张精选辑选自六张钢琴独奏专辑"秋季”(Autumn)1980'"辞冬”(Winter into spring)1982’"十二月"(December)1982'"夏日”(Summer)1991’"森林"(Forest)1994以及”音乐圣殿"(Linus&Lucy-themusic of vince guaraldi)1996。此外,还收录四首从未发行的乐曲:分别是”瞌睡虫小精灵(Sandman)""无际的北边原野(Northernplains)""我那熟睡小宝贝的脸(Sleepbaby mine)”以及亚洲地区独家收录的"夕阳余晖时的吟唱(Evening song)”。
个人专辑
1972 Ballads and Blues
1980 Autumn
1982 Winter into Spring
1982 December
1991 Summer
1994 Forest
1996 Linus and Lucy - The Music of Vince Guaraldi
1999 Plains
2001 Remembrance - A Memorial Benefit
2002 Night Divides the Day - The Music of the Doors
2005 Montana - A Love Story
2006 Gulf Coast Blues & Impressions: A Hurricane Relief Benefit
英文简介 (转自AllMusic)
Self-described "rural folk piano" player George Winston was among the earliest and most successful proponents of the genre of contemporary instrumental music later dubbed new age. Although born in Michigan in 1949, he was raised primarily in Montana, the extreme seasonal changes he experienced there later greatly influencing the pastoral feel of his music. Even as a child, Winston preferred instrumental music over vocal performances, counting among his early heroes Booker T. & the MG's, Floyd Cramer, and the Ventures; he did not take up music until after high school, however, beginning with organ and electric piano but moving to acoustic piano by 1971. Influenced by the stride piano of Fats Waller and Teddy Wilson, Winston turned from rock and R&B to jazz, and soon released his first solo piano effort, Ballads and Blues 1972, after which he mysteriously retired from music for the next several years.
Autumn Discovering the music of the legendary New Orleans R&B pianist Professor Longhair in 1979 was the epiphany Winston was seeking to inspire a return to performing; signing to the Windham Hill label, between 1980 and 1982 he recorded a trilogy of albums -- Autumn, December, and Winter Into Spring -- of impressionistic, seasonally themed piano musings which laid much of the groundwork for the new age boom to follow. Winston's music continued to grow in popularity and influence in the years to follow, but in typically enigmatic fashion, he virtually dropped from sight for the remainder of the '80s, resurfacing only in 1986 to score a reading of The Velveteen Rabbit by actress Meryl Streep.
Summer Finally, in 1991, Winston returned to action, completing his seasonal cycle with Summer; Forest followed three years later. In 1996, he paid tribute to another of his greatest influences with Linus & Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi. A compilation album, All the Seasons of George Winston, was released in the spring of 1998, followed a year later by Plains. The new millennium brought anniversary editions of several of his landmark albums, including Autumn, December, and Winter Into Spring, as well as the 2001 album Remembrance: A Memorial Benefit, which was Winston's response to the tragic events of September 11, 2001. His 2002 release, Night Divides the Day, focused on the music of one of his earliest influences, the Doors. Montana: A Love Story from 2004 was inspired by Winston's childhood in Montana. An impressive solo piano outing, Gulf Coast Blues & Impressions, released as a benefit set for hurricane relief, appeared from RCA in 2006. Winston continued to perform solo, but didn't cut another record until Love Will Come: The Music of Vince Guaraldi, Vol. 2 appeared in 2010. Winston toured in support of the album, playing solo piano concerts as well as performing on slack key guitar and harmonica. In the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon's explosion and its resultant, massive oil spill and environmental disaster in 2010, Winston monitored the situation closely and became deeply concerned about the loss of the wetlands in Southern Louisiana. In response, he issued another benefit recording, entitled Gulf Coast Blues & Impressions, Vol. 2: A Louisiana Wetlands Benefit, in March 2012 in order to help with funding bluesman Tab Benoit's The Voice of the Wetlands organization and other environmental concerns resulting from the crisis.