Earth Day - Paul Winter

I came to Paul Winter Consort music in a maze like, surfing the Internets, kind of way. We used to have a big white dog named Muttley, a stray from the neighborhood. Then there was an article in the San Jose Murky News about wolf hybrids. There was a picture and they were white. So I got interested in wolves. Joined Wolfhaven in Washington State and learned a lot from their newsletter. At around the same time, I was having a brief 'music affair' with Mannhiem Steamroller. (Called it off when I heard Rush Limbaugh was a big fan -- never bought another Mannheim Steamroller album -- I'm a Dean Democrat, you see.) But Mannheim Steamroller put out a little mail order catalog and in it was an album called Wolf Eyes by Paul Winter Consort. Well, I bought Wolf Eyes. I loved it. I bought Wintersong, still one of my favorite Paul Winter Consort albums.

Paul Winter Consort used to come to Stanford/South Bay Area with fair regularity. After Curt and I split up, I began going to the concerts. Saw the Earth Mass "Missa Gaia" at Stanford Chapel, a concert in the Quad, another concert at Villa Montalvo in Saratoga. One cool thing at all Paul Winter concerts is to 'howl with the wolves.' You can always tell the regular Paul Winter Consort groupies (who are very nice people by the way) because they take their howling very seriously.

And I became a collector of Paul Winter albums. If I could only have one it would probably be Spanish Angel, mainly because of a song called Farewell (which they curiously open with on the CD) with this sensational flutist named Rhonda Larson. Another favorite is the Canyon Chacon (on Canyon Lullaby) which is hauntingly sad to me. Mr. Winter recorderd it sans accompaniment in the Grand Canyon. On the CD there is a little organ accompaniment added at the end of the song. Another great album is Journey with the Sun which features a singer named Arto Tuncboyaciyan. I had this CD before 9/11 and was just getting acquainted with it. For a long time, maybe a year, after 9/11, I couldn't listen to it because it sounded Middle Eastern and, well, everyone in America understands. But one day, I stuck it in the CD player and now it's one of my favorite albums.

At this time, in my collection of maybe 125 CD's, Paul Winter represents the biggest slice of the pie, even more than Barry Manilow! I saw him once at Riverside Church in Jacksonville after I moved to Florida. This past Christmas, I finally made it to the Winter Solstice concert at the Cathedral of St. John Divine in Manhattan. I already have my plane ticket and room reserved for the Summer Solstice concert in June. I hope they will do the Blessing of the Animals in October at the Cathedral, when the Consort plays the Missa Gaia. As soon as it appears on Mr. Winter's website, I'll make my plans to go to NYC that weekend.

Thanks for all the excellent music Paul Winter Consort.


Click for Wolfhaven in Tenino WA (a cool place)

Click for International Wolf Center in Ely, MN (another cool place)

Click for Paul Winter Consort Album/Concert Information