George Winston Autumn (1980) [20th Anniversary Edition, 2001]

George Winston's Autumn has served as an emotional backdrop to the change of season. A beautiful recording for solo piano, Autumn finds Winston developing simple melodic motifs with studied left-hand underpinning, on hypnotic pieces like 'Woods,' which moves from a brisk rhythmic figure to rubato minor-key runs. Leaving pauses and breaths in all the right places, Winston suggests the play of color and light, the comfortable melancholy, and the encroaching slow-down that characterizes the fall season. Full of memorable themes and moods, Autumn is a timeless album, and serves as a good introduction for someone who has not heard George Winston. In the context of a career in which he has sold over fifteen million albums, Autumn is the first album that George himself recommends (and often gives to) new listeners.