Paul Winter

For the author, see Paul Winter (author). For the French athlete, see Paul Winter (athlete). For the New York violinist, see Paul Winter (violinist).

Paul Winter
Clearwater Festival, 2007
Background information
Born	(1939-08-31) August 31, 1939 Altoona, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	Jazz, new-age
Occupation	Musician
Instrument	Saxophone
Years active	1961–present
Labels	Columbia, A&M, Epic, Living Music
Website	www.paulwinter.com

Paul Winter (born August 31, 1939) is an American saxophonist who founded the Paul Winter Consort. He has recorded more than 40 albums and won seven Grammy Awards. He has toured and recorded in 52 countries and six continents. He often records while traveling in wilderness areas, including on rafts, mules, dog sleds, horses, kayaks, sailboats, steamers, tug-boats, and Land Rovers. He performs benefit concerts for environmental and world peace organizations.

Biography

Paul Winter attended Altoona Area High School and graduated in 1957. In 1961, while he was in college at Northwestern University, the band that he founded, the Paul Winter Sextet won the Intercollegiate Jazz Festival and was signed by Columbia Records. The next year, the band toured Latin America as cultural ambassadors for the United States State Department, playing 160 concerts in 23 countries. The Sextet was also the first jazz band to perform at the White House. Winter returned to Brazil in the mid-1960s and his interest in Brazilian music and the emerging bossa nova led to the 1965 release of the album Rio, with liner notes by Vinicius de Moraes.

In 1975, Winter sailed aboard the Greenpeace V anti-whaling expedition for three days of playing saxophone to wild gray whales off the coast of Vancouver Island (Tofino). He was accompanied in this effort by Melville Gregory and Will Jackson, musicians attempting to "communicate" with the whales using various instruments and a Serge synthesizer. Photos of Winter and the whales [by Rex Weyler] appeared on wire services and in media around the world, helping the ultimate success of the mission against Soviet whalers. [AP Wire Service, 1975; "Warriors of the Rainbow", Robt. Hunter 1978; "Greenpeace", Rex Weyler, 2003; "Once Upon A Greenpeace", Will Jackson, 2012]

After Winter's band changed its name to the Paul Winter Consort in the late 1960s, it contributed to the development of world music and space music. The Consort's 1972 release, Icarus, was produced by George Martin. Most of the musicians who worked on this album went on to form the jazz group Oregon. The Consort has continued over the years with different musicians.

Awards

Winter received a Global 500 Award from the United Nations, the Joseph Wood Krutch Medal from the United States Humane Society, the Peace Abbey's Courage of Conscience Award, the Spirit of the City Award presented at New York's Cathedral of St John the Divine, and an honorary Doctorate of Music from the University of Hartford.

Discography

Solo

Title		Year		Label
The Sound of Ipanema		1964		Columbia
Rio		1965		Columbia
Common Ground		1978		A&M
Callings		1980		Living Music
Missa Gaia/Earth Mass		1982		Living Music
Sun Singer		1983		Living Music
Canyon		1985		Living Music
Wintersong		1986		Living Music
Whales Alive		1987		Living Music
Earthbeat		1987		Living Music
Earth: Voices of a Planet		1990		Living Music
Solstice Live!		1993		Living Music
Prayer for the Wild Things		1994		Living Music
Canyon Lullaby		1997		Living Music
Brazilian Days		1998		Living Music
Celtic Solstice		1999		Living Music
Journey with the Sun		2000		Living Music

Paul Winter Consort

Title		Year		Label
The Winter Consort		1968		A&M
Something in the Wind		1969		A&M
Road		1970		A&M
Icarus		1972		Epic
Earthdance		1977		A&M
Concert for the Earth		1985		Living Music
Wolf Eyes (Compilation)		1989		Living Music
The Man Who Planted Trees		1990		Living Music
Turtle Island		1991		Living Music
Spanish Angel		1993		Living Music
Anthems		1998		Living Music
Silver Solstice		2005		Living Music
Crestone		2007		Living Music
Miho: Journey to the Mountain		2010		Living Music
Earth Music		2011		Living Music

Paul Winter Sextet

Title		Year		Label
The Paul Winter Sextet		1961		Columbia
Jazz Meets the Bossa Nova		1962		Columbia
Jazz Premiere: Washington		1963		Columbia
New Jazz on Campus		1963		Columbia
Jazz Meets the Folk Song		1963		Columbia

External links

• Breen, Terry. "A Winter's Tale", in Northwestern (Northwestern University alumni magazine), Spring 2000. Accessed October 8, 2006
• Knapp, Tom. "Paul Winter: Common Ground (A&M Records, 1978)", review in Rambles. Accessed January 29, 2006
• Allmusic entry for Paul Winter