George Winston
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George Winston (born 1949) is an American pianist who was born in Michigan, and grew up mainly in Eastern Montana as well as Mississippi and Florida. He attended Stetson University in Deland, Florida and lives in Santa Cruz, California.
When growing up his interest in music was listening to instrumentals in the R&B, rock, pop, and jazz genres, especially by organists. When he heard The Doors in 1967 he was inspired to start playing the organ. In 1971 he switched to solo piano after hearing recordings from the 1920s and the 1930s of the great stride pianist Thomas “Fats” Waller, and soon after of Waller’s contemporaries Teddy Wilson, Earl Hines, and Donald Lambert.
Many of Winston’s melodic pieces are self-described as "rural folk piano" or "folk piano", which is a style he came up with in 1971 to have an approach to complement the uptempo stride piano. These melodic pieces evoke the essence of a season and reflect natural landscapes. The third style he plays, and is currently working on the most, is New Orleans R&B piano, influenced mainly by Professor Longhair, James Booker, and Henry Butler, as well as Dr. John and Jon Cleary.He also is known for his tribute album of the late jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi's compositions for the Peanuts animated films.
