Winter Music saved My Life

When I was a young adult, music saved my life in many dimensions. perhaps we can all say that music has saved our life, our sanity, our being at some point or another, and that is what I am saying. Today I am celebrating the music that educated me on the possibility to appreciate music as it occurs naturally in nature.

The Paul Winter Consort, founded in 1967 and lead by Paul Winter is an assembly of musicians with strong influences of Jazz and Blues. The group's work is still very much alive and won Grammys as recently as 2005, 2007. I first heard The Paul Winter Consort when he played at Wofford College in 1978 following the release of their album Common Ground. I still have the vinyl album with the group's autographs...somewhere.

The striking thing then and now about the music lead by Paul Winter is the incorporation of animal sounds, recorded in nature, into their music. I was able to hear the true music of the wolf and the whale and experience the gentle continuance of their song through the haunting rifts of saxophone and lumbering rhythms of percussion. It was through Winter's music that I began to develop an affinity with the planet and those with whom I share it.

If you can stop for a moment today, do yourself a favor and turn out the lights, turn up the sound and let this group take you on a journey into your very own world - lead by the voices of nature and the music of masterful musicians.

Wolf Eyes

Lullaby of Mother Whale