GEORGE WINSTON
Plains (Windham Hill)
Reviewed by Eric Steiner

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George Winston's 1999 CD, Plains, is more than his latest solo piano nominated for a Grammy in the New Age category. Winston prefers "rural folk piano" to New Age, but no matter what it's called, it's uniquely George Winston. Plains is a treasure trove of Americana done in Winston's own style and very similar to 1994's Forest and 1987's Autumn. In addition to a variety of original pieces on Plains, Winston works wonders with Chet Atkins' "Waltz for the Lonely," Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" and the early Garth Brooks tune, "The Dance." On Plains, Winston draws from his Montana childhood, and "Cloudburst" and the title track evoke the large open spaces of Big Sky Country. While listening to Plains, I often thought of great American composers that also captured the expanse of the West, such as Virgil Thompson and Aaron Copeland. Windhall Hill has added two tracks of Winston playing Hawaiian slack key as one of his labors of love is to keep the sounds of the islands alive through this uniquely Hawaiian way of tuning the guitar. He's adapted some slack key to the piano on Plains, and in Winston's hands, it works. Plains is one of two Windhall Hill discs up for a New Age Grammy this year. It's too bad that Winston and fellow Windham Hill artist David Arkenstone, up for Citizen of the World, can't share the hardware in L.A. this year. Plains brought me back to Autumn, but with stronger dose of traditional American music thrown in.

Track List:

Dubuque * Before Barbed Wire* Frangenti * Give Me Your Hand/La Valse * No Ke Ano Ahi Ahi * Graduation * Teach Me Tonight * Rainsong (Fortune's Lullabye) * Merry Go Round * The Dance * Cloudburst * The Swan * I Ke La Ladana (Queen's Jubilee) * Plains (Eastern Montana Blues) * Angel * Waltz For The Lonely * Bonus Tracks on Solo Guitar: Sase (Sassy) * Muliwai

© 2000 - Eric Steiner