ark@rabbit.UUCP (Andrew Koenig) (09/23/84)
I just bought a wonderful CD called An Evening with Windham Hill -- Live Perhaps someone can tell me some more about these people?
rlr@pyuxn.UUCP (Rich Rosen) (09/24/84)
Wyndham Hill is not a group, it is a record label. Their ads have a list of various musical genres (rock, jazz, folk, classical), each one crossed out, with the words Wyndham Hill (not crossed out) at the bottom of the list. Says something... I haven't heard much material yet from this label, but I've been told that the label seeks a rather diverse sound, with a fair dose of what gets called "ECM jazz" (you have to listen to ECM to know what I'm trying to describe). -- If it doesn't change your life, it's not worth doing. Rich Rosen pyuxn!rlr
dave@rocksvax.UUCP (09/24/84)
A friend gave me the Windam Hill sampler CD, truly nicely done. The only
comment I had negative about it was that you can hear some of the master tape
noise. Technically and musically it sounds great. I probably will buy more,
but with all the pieces sounding so good it will be hard to single out
which other one(s) to get!!
Dave
arpa: Sewhuk.HENR@Xerox.ARPA
uucp: {allegra,rochester,amd,sunybcs}!rocksvax!daveroger@cornell.UUCP (Roger Hoover) (09/25/84)
Windham Hill is indeed a record label, but often artists who record on the label tour together. This is what produced the Windham Hill Live recordings. I saw this years group (Lis Story, Michael Hedges, Darol Anger, and a number of others) in Minneapolis. It was well worth going to.
heneghan@ihuxa.UUCP (Joe Heneghan) (09/25/84)
Howdy, most of this kind of music comes from "impressionistic music". I suggest some of the samplers available. I also suggest George Winston music also out of Windham Hill.
jim@noscvax.UUCP (James A. Zaun) (09/27/84)
William Ackerman has assembled a unique group of composer-musicians who spe- cialize for the most part in an almost meditative kind of ambient jazz, (with the possible exception of Shawdowfax). If you enjoy this kind of music, nearly all of the albums in the Windham Hill series should be to your liking. With few exceptions, most WH CDs are from analog masters. -jim@nosc <Jim Zaun>
sharpe@drivax.UUCP (Andrew Sharpe) (09/27/84)
One of the people who play on the Windham Hill label is Will Ackerman. He is a guitarist who plays in the style of Leo Kottke, but likes to unison overdub himself to give a bigger sound. The reason I know about this label is that about 5 years ago, when I was trying to break into the recording studio field, I met a guy by the name of Scott Saxon, who owned (owns?) Mantra Studios. This studio did the recording of Mr. Ackerman's first and second albums. Unfortunately, I lost contact with the studio over the years, so I don't know if Mantra is still recording for Windham Hill. -- Andrew Sharpe ihnp4!-------- \ mot! ---------- \ ucbvax!unisoft! > drivax!sharpe ucscc!--------- / amdahl!------- / "When you have eliminated all the impossibilities, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth" -- Sherlock Holmes
cuccia@ucbvax.ARPA (Nick Cuccia) (10/01/84)
More on WH:
cuccia@ucbvax.ARPA (Nick Cuccia) (10/01/84)
Apologies for the null message. Here goes the serious stuff,
from an article from the Daily Californian (UC-Berkeley's unofficial
campus newspaper/propaganda/rag/birdcage liner/all of the above)
on 17 Aug 1984. This was in a semi-review of a recent "An Evening at
Windham Hill in Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco.
"Once upon a time," (William) Ackerman said, "we were regarded as
sort of the high-tech heir to the Tacoma tradidition." Tacoma
is the label that established the work of John Fahey and Robbie
Basho, steel-string guitar pioneers. "And then we did the
(Erik) Satie (album) and George Winston, and they said, 'Well,
that Satie defies us; we don't know what to make of that.
But George Winston must be folk piano because it's on Windham
Hill and Windham Hill is a folk label. . ." They were
content to say, 'Well, it's a solo label, you know.'
"Then we very carefully added duets, trios, quartets. If you
look at the development of the catalogue, the first trio was
on (Michael) Hedges and the first quartet was on (Scott)
Cossu and the first quintet was on De Grassi. But they were
still saying, 'Well, but it's an acoustic label, isn't it?'
And so then we brought in the electric instrumentation.
And they said, 'Well, it's a jazz label.'
Will Ackerman waxes sprightly here: "In order to counteract
that, I'm doing an album of Gregorian chant and I'm doing
some hammer dulcimer; and the Billy Oskay/Michael
O'Domhnaill album, Nightnoise, is Irish-derivative, and. . .
"We're talking about a synthesis of many forms of music,
rather than being any one single identifiable form."
This eclecticism and fluidity is refreshing. An additional
surprise at the Davies Hall concert was Michael Hedges'
song, "Face Yourself". Heretofore, Windham Hill has avoided
vocal work; Hedges will be the first artist to release an
album on the label with voice and guitar, rather in the old
folk manner.
Sure, it's not great writing, but it says what the label is all about,
which is basically what you make of it.
I have about half of what is on the Windham Hill label and its
associated/subsidiary labels (Hip Pocket, Lost Lake, and Dancing Cat
(George Winston's new label)). My personal recommendations are:
George Winston: Autumn, December
William Ackerman: Turtles' Navel, Passage,
Past Light (Visiting)
Liz Story: Solid Colors
Darol Anger/Barbara Higbie: Tideline
Bill Quist: Piano Solos of Erik Satie
Shadowfax: Shadowfax, Shadowdance
Mark Isham: Aerial Boundaries
Windham Hill records are distributed through A&M records, so there
should be few problems with availability.
My favorite thing about the albums (outside of the music) is the
quality control. Many of the albums are digital mastered on the
Sony PCM-2 system (please correct me if I'm mistaken); inside liners
are thick plastic (not paper), pressings are very high quality,
graphics are nice, the normal shrink & warp wrap is replaced with an
oversized, reusable plastic cover. The price is also reasonable
($10 list, about $8 at local (Berkeley) record stores). Included
in the record is also a pamphlet inviting you to join their mailing
list (cost: a stamp for postage).
Needless to say, I think that Will Ackerman and Co. are doing something
right.
Nick Cuccia
ucbvax!cuccia
cuccia%ucbmiro@Berkeleycuccia@ucbvax.ARPA (Nick Cuccia) (10/02/84)
Different Fur studios in Menlo Park does most of the recording for Windham Hill. I think that Shadowfax records in LA and Mark Isham recorded _Vapor Drawings_ in London (England), though. Yours for better musik, Nick Cuccia ucbvax!cuccia cuccia@Berkeley
heneghan@ihuxa.UUCP (Joe Heneghan) (10/05/84)
Nick, thanks for a super response! This music is second to none!