Winston

Saxophonist Julian Velasco headlines an inventive, virtuosic, and diverse album of contemporary classical works for soprano, alto, and tenor sax as winner of Cedille Records’ first Emerging Artist Competition, a juried event celebrating the independent classical label’s 30th anniversary of championing Windy City artists of world-class talent.

“Eastern Montana”, the first in a series of posthumous releases from acclaimed solo pianist George Winston, was inspired by the surroundings of his childhood growing up in Miles City and Billings during the 1950s. Winston described Montana with its beautiful topography and wonderful people as “the greatest feeling of love and inspiration I have ever had.” Winston’s legacy as one of the foremost instrumental composers of our time perseveres with his latest studio album "Eastern Montana" sure to become a Winston classic.

Self-described "rural folk piano" player George Winston was among the earliest and most successful proponents of the genre of contemporary instrumental music later dubbed new age.
Signing to the Windham Hill label, between 1980 and 1982 he recorded a trilogy of albums - Autumn, December, and Winter Into Spring - of impressionistic, seasonally themed piano musings that laid much of the groundwork for the new age boom to follow.
In a sense, this second seasonal album follows an opposite direction from Autumn, its hard, isolated notes and stop-and-start style gradually giving way from the stasis of winter to the growth and movement of spring. It's a good album for beginning your day.