George Winston

 

 

Tomorrow is the winter solstice, the time of the year when we once again encounter the shortest day of the year.

The Northern Hemisphere winter solstice will occur Saturday, December 21st at 4:20 AM EST. The winter solstice occurs at the moment the earth's tilt away/toward the sun is at a maximum, with December 21st marking the shortest day and longest night of the year for locations in the northern half of the globe, given the Northern Hemisphere being tilted away from the sun. On the day of the winter solstice, the sun appears at its lowest elevation with a noontime position that changes very little for several days before and after the solstice. The Northern Hemisphere winter solstice occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, which is located at 23.5° south of the equator and runs through Australia, Chile, southern Brazil, and northern South Africa.

 

 

 

It’s a time of joy for many people, but it also is a time of stress. By the time that Christmas finally arrives, Sharon will have worn herself out baking Christmas cookies, and she’ll have made enough to last us until St. Patrick’s Day. For many of us, it is a time when our expenses go up, but our income does not. Due to the 2 weeks off from school for the holidays, my first school check in January will be exactly zero, so we’ll have to watch our pennies for a month of two. 

Apart from my daily intake of a glass of wine (or two), I have found that the best way to reduce stress is to listen to music, and one of the best artists I can think of for that is George Winston, who we saw live in concert many years ago in Minneapolis. He performed in stocking feet.

When we still had a record collection, it included a couple of his albums.

One of the albums that he released long ago is titled “Winter”. One of the songs on that album is titled “snow”, which you can listen to by clicking on the link below:

(64)George Winston / Snow - YouTube

 

If you listen to the song until its conclusion, you’ll discover that you can listen to the entire album, since it automatically goes to the next song.

 

George Otis Winston III (February 11, 1949 – June 4, 2023) was an American pianist performing contemporary instrumental music.  Best known for his solo piano recordings, Winston released his first album in 1972, and came to prominence with his 1980 album Autumn, which was followed in 1982 by Winter into Spring and December.

All three became platinum-selling albums, with December becoming a triple-platinum album. A total of 16 solo albums were released, accumulating over 15 million records sold, with the 1994 album Forest earning Winston a Grammy award for Best New Age Album. Winston received four other Grammy nominations, including one for Best Children's Music Album, performed with actress Meryl Streep, and another for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for his interpretation of works by the rock band the Doors.

Winston played in three styles: the melodic approach that he developed and called "rural folk piano"; stride piano, primarily inspired by Fats Waller and Teddy Wilson; and his primary interest, New Orleans rhythm and blues (R&B) piano, influenced by James Booker, Professor Longhair and Henry Butler. While the majority of his recordings were in the folk piano style, Winston mostly enjoyed playing R&B piano.  His musical style has been classified as new age and sometimes classical, but he rejected both labels.

Winston also played the guitar and harmonica. His interest in the Hawaiian slack-key guitar led him to start his own record label, Dancing Cat Records.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Winston

No one knows if the government will shut down at midnight tonight, but there is nothing that any of us can do about it. With luck, president Musk and congress will reach some type of agreement to avert disaster.

For now, though, don’t spend any time worrying about it.

Just listen to George.