Windham

A couple of weeks ago I shared a sampler of Windham Hill label…

Here is a collection of familiar classical music adagios given new interpretations by Windham Hill artists. Although most of the tracks do have synthesizer harmonies and embellishments, there are some that do not. The Brahms Intermezzo contains its own intermezzo in the form of a jazz piano trio improvisation. Edgar Meyer on double bass and Mike Marshall on mandolin perform a nice, straightforward transcription of the Prelude in C sharp minor from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2, with no synthesized embellishments.

This is the best Windham Hill sampler and nothing like the "heralded" but really laid back "Winter's/Summer's Solstice" releases by Paul Winter, one of Windham Hill's premier artists of the 80s. While SOTM is classified as "electronic" music, it has oriental and jazz inspirations throughout.

Wim Mertens - Close Cover (1986) {Windham Hill Records WD-1056}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 165 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 85 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 28 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1986 Windham Hill Records | WD-1056
Avant-Garde / Minimalism / Neo-Classical / Contemporary Instrumental

Compiled from Mertens's solo and group projects recorded during the early to mid '80s, this Windham Hill collection offers an overview of his textural, multilayered style of minimalist composition.

Wim Mertens - Whisper Me (1988) {Windham Hill WD-1079}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 190 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 90 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 26 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1988 Les Disques du Crépuscule / Windham Hill Records | WD-1079
Classical / Minimalism / Neo-Classical / Contemporary Instrumental

One can imagine how a composer like Wim Mertens could appear on the Windham Hill label and – to some people's surprise – in the late '80s he appeared twice. Whisper Me is a compilation of tracks from his other Crepuscle releases, a mini-overview of his style, and a way of hearing some tracks from the then-impossible-to-find Maximizing the Audience. Mertens has more depth to him than other pianists on the label, and a darkness creeps in at the edges of these works.

Here is a collection of familiar classical music adagios given new interpretations by Windham Hill artists. Although most of the tracks do have synthesizer harmonies and embellishments, there are some that do not. The Brahms Intermezzo contains its own intermezzo in the form of a jazz piano trio improvisation. Edgar Meyer on double bass and Mike Marshall on mandolin perform a nice, straightforward transcription of the Prelude in C sharp minor from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2, with no synthesized embellishments.