Paul Winter Consort - The Promise of a Fisherman
We'll sneak this on in under the wire for August, in celebration of a musical and ecological veteran and his milestone birthday today.
I was Today Years Old when I learned that.
That was in 1962. By 1967 our hero had formed his Consort, which he's had, in one configuration or another, ever since.
This group helped usher in both the World Music era and the era -- still, thankfully, ongoing -- in which musicians got involved in ecological activism.
I call him the John Muir of Jazz, which he'd likely appreciate.
It is alleged to have started when he heard a recording of humpback whale calls in the late 1960s.
His Consort was one of the first to incorporate the sounds of wildlife into a Jazz record, and their 1977 LP -- documented on tour in today's share fare -- featured this aspect heavily.
Their Icarus album from 1974 is where the members of the band Oregon first played together.
In 1980, he formed his own label, called Living Music, as an outlet for his vision.
This led to him becoming artist-in-residence at The Cathedral Of St. John The Divine in New York City during the 1980s and 1990s.
Perhaps the muso most associated with the Save The Whales initiative, he's also heavily involved in the preservation of wolves in the wild, and has recorded songs around their vocalizations as you'll see in the concert here.
And a mighty fine concert it is, and wouldn't you know it's another one of those lifted and reassembled from that other Gang of Wolves.
Paul Winter Consort
Bottom Line
New York City, New York USA
6.28.1978
01 Mountain Wedding/band introductions
02 Ballad In 7/8
03 Ocean Dream
04 Ancient Voices (Nhemamusasa)
05 Lay Down Your Burden
06 Happy Guru
07 The Promise of a Fisherman
08 Minuit/Whole Earth Chant
09 Wolf Eyes
10 Icarus
Total time: 1:33:30
disc break goes after Track 06
Tracks 01-08 are from the late show
Tracks 09 & 10 are from the early show
Paul Winter - saxophones, reeds, keyboards & vocals
David Darling - cello
Nancy Rumbel - oboe, English horn, piano & vocals
Michael Blair - drums & percussion
Jim Scott - guitar
John Guth - bass & guitar
Michael Holmes - keyboards & vocals
Warren Bernhardt - piano
with special guests:
Dr. Paul Berliner - mbira & vocals
Susan Osborn - vocals
additional vocals provided by the ensemble
320/48k audio streamed from Wolfgang's Vault
spectral analysis goes to 20 kHz, making this essentially equivalent to a preFM source
converted to 16/44 CD Audio, repaired, denoised, retracked and somewhat remastered by EN, August 2024
509 MB FLAC/direct link
509 MB FLAC/direct link
That wraps up August, and I've already looked at September so I'd remember to make it memorable.
Do enjoy these 93 minutes of blissness, though... I was gonna say it's a whale of a show! And a suitable celebratory artifact to honor the 85th b'day of Paul Winter!--J.
