Titan of Solo Piano Instrumental Music Was 73 – Variety

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George Winston, one of the world’s best-selling instrumental pianists during his heyday in the 1980s and ’90s, died Sunday at the age of 73. The announcement was made through his social media and website, saying he fell ill and “passed away painlessly in his sleep.” 10 year battle with cancer.

“George bravely cured serious cancers, including a successful bone marrow transplant for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) in City of Hope, Duarte, California in 2013, and thankfully lived to be 10 years old. extended,” the statement said. “While being treated for cancer, George continued to write and record new music, performing live to audiences, while raising funds for Feeding America to combat the national hunger crisis, earning each concert $100,000. I have stayed true to my greatest passion of donating to my local food bank.”

Winston began his career playing what he called “folk piano”, but in later years, during the height of the instrumental movement, it was categorized as part of the New Age genre, as well as classical music. Sometimes classified, but he avoided any of those labels. He recorded his first solo piano album, Ballads and Blues, on the Folkways label in 1972, but released the seasonally themed Autumn and December in 1980 and 1982, respectively. I never became famous until I did.

He has since sold more than 15 million albums, according to his rep. Winston won a Grammy Award for “Forest” and was nominated five other times. His 16th and final album, Night, will be released in May 2022 on RCA Records.

“I came up with the melodic style I play in 1971. I always called it ‘folk piano’ (more To be precise, it is called “Country Folk Piano”). It has a folk song and country sensibility,” he writes on his website. “When the Autumn album came out in 1980, I was sometimes misidentified as classical…I have no classical influence…In those days, I was sometimes misidentified as jazz.” Yes, but I don’t play jazz either “on the piano,” he added, but “I draw some inspiration from the jazz tradition, and it was mainly jazz until I switched to piano in 1971.” I was concentrating on the organ,” he said.

Nor was the new age genre relatable to him. “I am not interested in those subjects, so other labels, including those pertaining to philosophical, spiritual, or beliefs, are not accurate. I try to get rations, play songs the best I can, and improve as a player over time.”

Less well-known than his main style was Winston’s interest in New Orleans-style R&B piano, and he even claimed that 90% of the songs he played were in that style. bottom. A staple of his typically subdued recordings.

By contrast, he devoted only about 10% of his playing to folk piano, but said that “the majority of the songs on my recordings are in this style.”

He has a surviving sister, niece, and nephew. His family is holding a private memorial service, he said.

Fans wishing to make donations in his memory are directed to Feeding America, City of Hope Cancer Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

And more to come…