Reviewed: 2018-05-03
Genre: General
FCCs: none
Review: By virtue of his brilliance as one of the foremost instrumental composers of our time, Restless Wind presents a stunning journey documenting George Winston's sociological observations in American history. Winston repurposes for the modern listener stunningly relevant works by a variety of musical greats This disc captures Winston's inimitable melodic language where piano textures and tones set the stage for vivid renderings of classic compositions.
If You Like: Liz Story, Keith Jarrett, Fats Waller, Mark Isham
Track Review (favorites denoted by *):
*1/ Autumn Wind (5:00) – heavy notes start> pause> rocking uptempo> quick stop
**2/ Judge, Judge (5:02) – rollicking uptempo barrelhouse with multiple flourishes> crescendo end
3/ A Change Is Gonna Come (5:03) – slow & stately> slow fade
**4/ Summertime (5:38) – midtempo with heavy notes & chords> melody shifts & shifts again, building to a crescendo> quick fade
*5/ Cancion Mixteca (4:19) – midtempo with Latin vibe with flurries of notes, builds in volume> slow fade
6/ The Good Earth (3:49) – midtempo with heavy notes> fade
*7/ For What It’s Worth (4:57) – slow brooding start> shifts uptempo with rocking heavy notes, then slows again> shits to midtempo & slows to fade
***8/ Medley: Muskrat Ramble/I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die Rag/Stop The Bleeding (7:03) – rollicking uptempo ragtime starts> shifts to barrelhouse> crescendo end
*9/ The Times Of Harvey Milk (4:25) – slow & poignant, hesitating start> slow build in intensity> shifts to hesitating to fade
10/ The Unknown Soldier (4:46) – midtempo & hesitating shifts to uptempo heavy rocking> pause> heavy strident notes> pause> quick build to crescendo> pause> slow & hesitating shifts to heavy rocking> cascades of notes> crescendo> pause> midtempo light notes to fade
*11/ The Wayward Wind (3:07) – midtempo> shifts to hesitating> fade