MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS CELEBRITY SIGHTING!

In my "NOW IT GETS SERIOUS" post from a couple of weeks ago, I referenced a record by Paul Winter called "Common Ground" that I'd been digging. I found it at the end of the Summer. I was first drawn to it by its dope cover featuring a Wolf, a Whale, an Eagle and a SWIRLY RAINBOW.


The music was pretty sweet too! Paul Winter is a jazz saxophonist who has been incorporating ANIMAL SOUNDS and WORLD MUSIC into his work for years. This album is from 1978. A lot of the tracks involve an instrument "dueting" with an animal; an African Fish Eagle goes up against Paul McCandless' unstoppable bebop oboe, Paul Winter duets with Ida, a Timber Wolf. I WAS VERY STRUCK BY THIS RECORD. It was an amalgamation of a lot things I'd been thinking about lately: conservation biology, New Age, smooth-ish Jazz, WORLD...

I was thanking my lucky stars when I found ANOTHER Paul Winter record at the Salvation Army a few weeks later. "Callings" has a cover very similar to "Common Ground". It is a DOUBLE-ALBUM from 1980 and features a CRAZY 20-page booklet. There's this giant map of North America (labeled with the Native American name "Turtle Island") that shows this mythical system of Animal communication; the Narwhal Messenger in Nova Scotia tells the Humpback Whale by the Arctic Circle who tells the Baby Seal in Alaska, etc.



This past Sunday, I was riding my bike down Amsterdam Avenue and I saw a crazy procession in front of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. There were tons of people in white robes plus a camel and some donkeys. I stopped to survey the scene and was about to leave when I started hearing some music. At first I could only hear some Brazilian percussion, but then as the musicians filed out of the Church I started hearing some smooth and beautiful SOPRANO SAXOPHONE LICKS!

The band walked down the steps and into the Church Gardens next door. A huge crowd was following them. I locked my bike up and went to get a closer look.
"Who's the dude playing sax?" I asked a reveler.
"Paul Winter", they replied!

UNBELIEVABLE!! The band played for a few more minutes. Paul Winter had two Parakeets on his shoulders. After they finished playing, I went up to Paul Winter and told him how I'd just gotten into his music. He was a VERY positive guy.
I told him that there is a band called Wolf Eyes (he has a song called "Wolf Eyes"). He said he'd check them out. He told me he'd be back at St. John's for a Winter Solstice concert in Decemeber. GOTTA GO TO THAT!

Here's an excerpt from his song Wolf Eyes:

Paul Winter - Wolf Eyes {excerpt}

It opens with a genuine Timber Wolf howling. Paul Winter responds with some Soprano Sax wailing. The writing credits say (Timber Wolf, Winter). The whole song is about 6 minutes long.

This is from the record sleeve:

This is dedicated to Jethro (1967-1973), the first wolf I came to know...

Here's another side of Paul Winter. This is a beautiful take on a Guinean folk song.

Paul Winter - Midnight (Minuit)

Both songs are from "Common Ground".

PARTING THOUGHTS:

1. That quote about Jethro reminds me of Timothy Treadwell from "Grizzly Man". Paul Winter, however, clearly has his shit together.

2. Animal Collective should be friends with Paul Winter. He was blending ANIMALZ, Brazilian music and hippie-ness since before they were born.

FOLLOW-UP QUESTION:
Is a New Age-jazz dude uncool because he SINCERELY believes in connecting with nature while a "PSYCH-FOLK" band going "MEOWWWWW" is cool because we assume they are IRONICALLY DETACHED? I don't know! You have to answer that for yourself.