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Paul Winter has been a bellwether for musicians and fans for several decades. His fascination with new idioms and musical sources has broadened his and his listeners' repertoire. Even as a child, Winter threw over his piano, drums and clarinet study for the (more exotic) saxophone. Later, he forged a musical path with stops in Dixieland and Big Band music. A sojourn to Brazil and immersion in its music brought about the 1967 creation of the Paul Winter Consort. "I borrowed the name 'consort' from the ensembles of Shakespeare's time, the housebands of the Elizabethan Theater, which adventurously blended woodwinds, strings and percussion, the same families of instruments I wanted to combine in our 'contemporary' consort," he explains on his website.
Another goal of Paul Winter's work has been to raise awareness of endangered species by incorporating their soulful sounds into his music. Humpback whales and howling wolves have inspired Winter's work.
With six Grammys on the shelf and multiple environmental awards, the Consort has also racked up 2,000 concerts in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Major cathedrals such as Washington's National Cathedral, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and New York's St. John the Divine, and remarkable locales, including the White House, the Grand Canyon, the Negev Desert in Israel and the Japanese royal palace, have been some of the venues. Redding's own remarkable venue, New Pond Farm, features the Paul Winter Consort in its 25th anniversary concert on September 12th at 4 p.m. Tickets are $10 and $30 for the concert and $20 and $60 for the concert and a pre-concert Harvest Celebration. For more information, visit New Pond Farm's website.
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