George Winston

出生日期 / 地點：1949年 / 美國密歇根洲
喬治·溫斯頓（George Winston）是1949年生于美國密西根州的作曲家兼鋼琴家。1972年錄制個人首張演奏專輯《Ballads&Blues》。其柔美優(yōu)雅極富文人氣息清新獨特的曲風，使他成為新世紀（New Age）音樂界中極具代表性的卓越人物。喬治·溫斯頓的曲目是鋼琴美學史上最純凈逸品之大成，他的音樂舒俊流暢、旋律優(yōu)美，極具可聽性。是新世代音樂中極具代表性的卓越人物。他因其優(yōu)異的音樂才華而多次獲得格萊美大獎和格萊美聯(lián)社大獎提名的極高榮譽。喬治溫斯頓最讓大家熟知的還是他改編的鋼琴曲《帕爾貝爾的卡農》。
曲風
喬治·溫斯頓的曲目是鋼琴美學史上最純凈逸品之大成，他的音樂舒俊流暢、旋律優(yōu)美，極具可聽性。是新世代音樂中具有代表性的卓越人物。他因其優(yōu)異的音樂才華而多次獲得格萊美大獎和格萊美聯(lián)社大獎提名的極高榮譽，每年都因樂迷們的強烈要求而進行100 多場全球巡演，受到世界各地觀眾們的熱忱歡迎。他成長的蒙他那州的季節(jié)變化景象，豐富了他在創(chuàng)作時的靈魂。
他的大多數(shù)作品因為能使聽眾感到大自然的風景，并且反映了四季的精髓，給聽眾閑適、輕松、怡然、清新的感覺。喬治·溫斯頓被譽為“新世紀音樂之父”，而他本人卻回避這個說法，他稱自己的音樂為“鄉(xiāng)村田園鋼琴曲”。
音樂經歷
喬治·溫斯頓出生于1949年1月1日，在蒙大拿州度過了他的童年時光之后，他先后在密西西比和弗羅里達州居住。如今，他幾乎只能聽流行和R&B（節(jié)奏布魯斯）器樂曲（比如FLOYD CRAMER后斯的作品、冒險樂隊、THE VENTURES樂隊、BOOKER T &THE MGS樂隊以及KING CURTIS等）以及其他R&B藝術的作品，比如RAY CHAR LES和SAM COOKE。在電臺的準點新聞之前，如果播放器樂節(jié)目的話，他會聚精會神聽上半小時。 受藍調、搖滾、R&B和爵士樂的影響，喬治從1967年開始彈管風琴和電鋼琴。到了1971年，在聽了傳奇的搖擺爵士樂鋼琴演奏家湯姆斯，胖，沃勒和特迪威爾森的后期作品之后，他轉向彈奏鋼琴。從那時起，他開始致力于在鋼琴獨奏上建立自己的風格，自己創(chuàng)作作品并編寫其他音樂家的作品。1972年，喬治在吉他演奏家約翰．非赫的廠牌TAKOMA旗下錄制了他的第一張鋼琴獨奏專輯，名為《鋼琴小品：民謠與布魯斯》。喬治從事的音樂，其風格實際上是2/3的R&B+搖滾+主流音樂作為元素，然后輔以1/3的優(yōu)美旋律。他至今為止發(fā)行的唱片中后者是主要特色。
民謠與布魯斯
喬治·溫斯頓于1972年錄制了自己的第一張專輯為《民謠與布魯斯》（Ballads and Blues），當時并沒有得到多大的反響。而直到1979年，威廉·阿克曼（William Ackerman）與他談起為他的新唱片公司錄制專輯的事情。起初，喬治·溫斯頓只是用夏威夷吉他彈奏了一些簡單的音樂作品，之后有為電臺的夜間節(jié)目做背景音樂，這樣也就成為了喬治·溫斯頓的專輯《秋日》（Autumn）。在音樂中，他將秋日描述成為萬圣節(jié)的頌歌。這張專輯《秋日》后來被聽眾大受好評。之后他的專輯《十二月》（December）和《辭冬》（Winter into Spring）都獲得了白金唱片的稱號，并在1996年的的格萊美獎中獲得最佳新世紀音樂專輯。由于他對史努比花生漫畫的喜愛，他在1996年制作了音樂專輯《Linus & Lucy-The Music of Vince Guaraldi》，這張專輯是獻給格拉第（Vince Guaraldi）為花生漫畫所做的音樂。在2002年他將19世紀60年代門戶合唱團的音樂制作成專輯《Night Divides the Day - The Music of the Doors》，與其不同的就是音樂使用的是鋼琴的獨奏，并且音樂更加的恬靜怡然。
鋼琴獨奏名曲精選輯
喬治溫斯頓之四季（All the seasons of george winston）是首張收錄喬治溫斯頓二十五年來精彩絕倫的的鋼琴獨奏名曲精選輯。這張精選輯選自六張鋼琴獨奏專輯"秋季”（Autumn）1980'"辭冬”（Winter into spring）1982’"十二月"（December）1982'"夏日”（Summer）1991’"森林"（Forest）1994以及”音樂圣殿"（Linus&Lucy-themusic of vince guaraldi）1996。此外，還收錄四首從未發(fā)行的樂曲：分別是”瞌睡蟲小精靈（Sandman）""無際的北邊原野（Northernplains）""我那熟睡小寶貝的臉（Sleepbaby mine）”以及亞洲地區(qū)獨家收錄的"夕陽余暉時的吟唱（Evening song）”。
個人專輯
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
英文簡介 (轉自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.