By: Jessamyn Buttram
Issue date: 2/5/09

George Winston performed at the Rio Grande Theatre on Jan. 27. He’s a well-known pianist who has performed in Las Cruces before. Not only did his show sell out well before the performance, the lobby was filled with patrons hoping for will call no-shows in hopes of edging into the show last minute.

Winston opened with an upbeat piece called “New Orleans Shall Rise Again,” which, said Winston, “is an ode to the city and its music, a buoyant salute to the rhythms of jazz, blues, and R&B.” The song is from his Gulf Coast Blues and Impressions album. It contains six Winston originals and four pieces by Dr. John, James Booker and Henry Butler-artists Winston appreciates and has emulated at different points in his career. The album is a hurricane relief benefit that was created and released solely for the purpose of raising money to reconstruct the broken city of New Orleans.

The next piece on the program was a slower, moody and intense song titled “Rain,” followed by a similarly paced “Woods” soon after. The resulting atmosphere in the audience was respect, serenity and a quiet sort of appreciation for the talented man whose fingers were performing acts of which contortionists would be envious. Simultaneously, his body and smiling face remained surprisingly relaxed and accessible (he could have been someone’s grandpa playing piano with the grandkids at a holiday gathering).

Winston soon decided to mix up the pace a little by throwing in “Cat and Mouse,” an impossibly fast-paced and fun stride style piece that was, without a doubt, an audience favorite. By the end of the song, many were standing up, whooping and whistling.

In each of the pieces before the intermission, Winston strove to showcase the different styles of piano that he performs.

“I play three styles,” said Winston. “New Orleans R&B piano, and the majority of songs I play are in this style; stride piano, which was the main way of playing that I worked on after hearing Fats Waller and Teddy Wilson; and third, folk piano, the style I came up with in 1971 which is influenced and inspired by instrumental R&B and Rock, North American folk music, and even more by the sounds of the piano itself.

Winston’s first solo album was Ballads and Blues, which was released in 1972. Since then, he has released 10 other albums: Autumn, Winter into Spring, December, Summer, Forest, Linus and Lucy-the music of Vince Guaraldi, Plains, Remembrance-A Memorial Benefit, Night Divides the Day-The Music of the Doors, Montana: A Love Story and Gulf Coast Blues and Impressions.

Winston often performs songs from Charlie Brown. At the Rio Grande Theatre Concert, he entertained the audience with two Valentine’s Day medleys from the beloved cartoon. He actually recorded music for the soundtrack of the Peanuts animation, This is America, Charlie Brown: The Birth of the Constitution (he played pieces by the show’s original, late composer, Vince Guaraldi). Additionally, he also recorded the solo piano soundtrack for The Velveteen Rabbit, with narration by Meryl Streep, in 1984. He also recorded music for the soundtrack of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, the true story of a Japanese girl who lived in Hiroshima and contracted radiation poisoning after the attack on Japan during World War II. She then spent her time in the hospital folding paper cranes because, as Japanese legend has it, someone who folds a thousand paper cranes will have their dearest wish granted.

A pianist with a heart as big, a repertoire as complex and skill as great as Winston is a pleasure to hear at any time, and a greater pleasure to see live. If he’s ever in town again, be sure to grab your tickets before someone else does.?