Paul Winter concert

Well, I think we both enjoyed the Michael Martin Murphey concert more, but the Paul Winter show at Ft. Lewis last night was interesting. Long, with lots of dim lights and "environmental" music ... zzzzzzzz! 

Though he's recorded jazz and Celtic music, he's into natural sounds now, and he described how that pursuit has led him to Grand Canyon NP, Rocky Mountain NP, Yellowstone NP and Glacier NP, and he mentioned Great Sand Dunes NP as being close to the focus of his latest album, "Crestone," which is named for a multi-cultural community on the eastern edge of Colorado's San Luis Valley. Kinda nice to hear this testimony that the natural places preserved in our national parks, and the wolves, bison and elk that reside there, can provide such an important touchstone for a musician of Winter's prominence.

Part of his performance was enhanced by the wierdest assortment of percussion instruments I've ever seen. A local group handles those in the top picture ... drums, "drumming devices," xylophones, you name it.

"Crestone" just won a Grammy, and Winter had it there. He said it's nice, but it's incomplete. He completed the scene with a model of the RCA dog, Nipper, from his grandfather's store in Pennsylvania! tv