More pop Minimalism than Impressionistic piano jazz, George Winston is often unfairly derided for being “jazz lite.” The thing is, it is not jazz, so just shut up. Winston specializes in lucid, sonorous and consonant piano-based compositions that keep the jabs of dissonance and dense colors of even the most layman-friendly jazz Impressionism far at bay.
“New Age” is usually code for “harmonically simplistic and static.” The Windham Hill label flagship act Winston has a few more Modernist moves and colors up his sleeve than he is often given credit for, but they owe more to Satie and Debussy than to Bill Evans or Keith Jarrett. At his best (and he is, if nothing else, wildly consistent), Winston’s crystalline compositions and performances can induce you to reverie even when you’d rather not. Why, I am “there” right now.
The popular pianist and New Age innovator George Winston performs at the Towne Crier in Beacon on Sunday, November 1 at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $40 and are available at www.townecrier.com. The Towne Crier is located at 379 Main Street in Beacon. For more information, call (845) 855-1300.
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