Do you know Paul Winter?
A lot of people know him without knowing him.
You’ll know him from one of three different reasons.
The Paul Winter Sextet was a cultural ambassador to Latin America for the United States State Department. They spent 6 months performing throughout Latin America and were greatly inspired by what they heard, especially the Bossa Nova music in Brazil.
On November 19, 1962, the Paul Winter Sextet set up on the stage of the East Room of the White House. Down the hall was the President, unable to attend because of the Sino-Indian War, between China and India. It was on that day a cease-fire was declared and the air support from the US that was on the way for India was called back. Although JFK could not attend, it is said he could still hear the music.
The first ever Jazz concert at the White House occurred at the invitation of Jacqueline Kennedy in her series of Concerts for Young People by Young People and 10- to-19-year-old children of diplomats and government officials attended. It was said the First Lady could barely sit still.
“Simply wonderful. There has never been anything like it here before.” Talking to the 23-year-old jazz sextet leader from Altoona, Pa., Mrs. Kennedy said, “I think it’s so great to see you up there.”-The New York Herald Tribune, Nov. 20, 1962
Other than the obvious first for a Jazz concert, the integrated band showed a change moving through society. The band had problems while traveling in places like Miami and even Utah when the Black members of the group were not allowed to stay in the same hotels as the others. The band would then move on until they found another place to stay, if possible.
Paul Winter and Jacqueline Kennedy.
The Paul Winter Sextet eventually became the Paul Winter Consort. If you are a fan of space, astronauts, or the Apollo program you may know it was his third album, Road, that was taken to the moon by the astronauts of Apollo 15. Two craters on the moon were named after two songs from that album, Ghost Beads and Icarus.
The song Icarus.
The Icarus Crater.
In 1971 the Paul Winter Consort struck gold in producer George Martin. The George Martin of Beatles fame. The he landmark album Icarus, which was released in 1972, which George Martin described as “the finest album I’ve ever made”
Paul Winter is one of the pioneers of what has become known as World Music. He combines music styles from around the world as well as including the sounds of nature, such as bird song.
Here is the Paul Winter Sextet performing on the show Jazz Casual back in 1963, a few months after performing at the White House. The video is about 29 minutes long. Enjoy as much as you like. Visit Amazon for his music by clicking HERE.
Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in February 14, 2016. He shares his life through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.
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I used to work at a jazz radio station and Paul Winter is a personal favorite. He has also done a lot of New Age stuff that is worth listening to. The song “Garden of the Earth” on his album, Earthbeat, just makes me melt. Winter’s effort to bring attention to environmental issues is almost as meaningful as his contributions to music.
Thanks for the great post.
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Reblogged this on carolkean and commented:
A lot of people know him without knowing him. You’ll know him from one of three different reasons. #1: The Paul Winter Sextet was a cultural ambassador to Latin America for the United States State Department. They spent 6 months performing throughout Latin America and were greatly inspired by what they heard, especially the Bossa Nova music in Brazil.
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Makes me want to dig out my bossa nova cds and let them spin all day long.. Latin music was as much a part of my youth as classical… ❤
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