Windham Hill, most beloved

[Rabshakeh]

The recent discussion on Smooth Jazz made me realize that we have no Windham Hill thread.

I've scanned through the mentions of the label on this forum and most of them are... less than complementary. On the other hand, some members do occasionally post WH records on the Listening To... page. 

So... Any favourites? Windham Hill or adjacent.

[Rooster_Ties]

I don’t know if this is complete (maybe it just goes up to 1988, but the label went further?)…

https://windhamhillrecords.com/windham-hill-discography-100/

The “roster” section of their Wikipedia page looks to be a good starting point too…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windham_Hill_Records

Edited 27 July by Rooster_Ties

[felser]

My wife and I love the first three Tuck & Patti albums, "Tears of Joy", "Love Warriors", and "Dream".  Not typical Windham Hill territory, but quite beautiful.

.

[Rabshakeh]

10 minutes ago, felser said:

My wife and I love the first three Tuck & Patti albums, "Tears of Joy", "Love Warriors", and "Dream".  Not typical Windham Hill territory, but quite beautiful.

She was a Bride of Funkenstein!

[colinmce]

Not sure I could endorse anything in the jazz realm (I have not heard the Denny Zeitlin or Richie Beirach albums they released; I don't find the Braxton ones very compelling and the recording is ghastly), but there are some good records in there. Some favorites:

Daniel Hecht - Willow
Bola Sete - Ocean
George Cromarty - Wind In The Heather
Interiors - Design
Tim Story - Glass Green
Ira Stein/Russel Walder - Elements
Bill Quist - Piano Solos of Erik Satie

They also reissued some good Cesaria Evora and Hawaiian albums.

And there is of course, somehow, one of the finest albums ever made by anyone: Robbie Basho's Visions of the Country

[Rooster_Ties]

I remember liking however many of Michael Hedges albums I heard back in college (had a girlfriend who liked him).  Acoustic guitar, with wild all-custom tunings, iirc -- some of it pretty high energy.  Haven't heard any since back then, though.  Still, good stuff.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hedges

[mjzee]

I liked George Winston's "Autumn."  I think it holds up as music; whether it holds up as jazz is a different conversation.

[Rooster_Ties]

1 hour ago, mjzee said:

I liked George Winston's "Autumn."  I think it holds up as music; whether it holds up as jazz is a different conversation.

Yeah, a girlfriend I had back in college liked George Winton too, circa 1988.  I hadn't actually gotten into jazz at that point yet (so I guess I can argue "I didn't know any better!" ) -- but I remember liking the 2 or 3 Winston albums she/we had, as far as it goes.

I think my wife (not the gal I dated in college) had and still has 4-5 Windham Hill discs around here, a couple of them Holiday (xmas) music, iirc.  Nothing we've listened to in 15+ years, but since they were hers, I didn't think it was a good idea to get rid of them myself.

("Yes, honey, I know I have 8,000+ CD's -- but maybe you should think about getting rid of 2 or 3 of the 15 you had when we met." )

Edited 27 July by Rooster_Ties

[bresna]

I still listen to George Winston's solo piano CDs. I saw him live about 2 years ago. I wouldn't call them Jazz but they are very good dinner music and my wife enjoys them so they get played every now & then.

[JSngry]

It's like ECM, only without the jazz. 

[clifford_thornton]

4 hours ago, colinmce said:

Not sure I could endorse anything in the jazz realm (I have not heard the Denny Zeitlin or Richie Beirach albums they released; I don't find the Braxton ones very compelling and the recording is ghastly), but there are some good records in there. Some favorites:

Daniel Hecht - Willow
Bola Sete - Ocean
George Cromarty - Wind In The Heather
Interiors - Design
Tim Story - Glass Green
Ira Stein/Russel Walder - Elements
Bill Quist - Piano Solos of Erik Satie

They also reissued some good Cesaria Evora and Hawaiian albums.

And there is of course, somehow, one of the finest albums ever made by anyone: Robbie Basho's Visions of the Country

Ocean was originally issued by Takoma and is great. Windham Hill also reissued the George Winston album on Takoma, which is quite nice as well. I really like William Ackerman and before selling the label, he modeled it after Takoma (even starting the catalog at C-1001). 

[Ken Dryden]

My Windham Hill collection leans to their jazz sublabel:

Tuck Andress        Reckless Precision                                         Windham Hill Jazz 0124
Tuck Andress        Hymns, Carols & Songs About Snow          Windham Hill Jazz 10135

Billy Childs             Take For Example This                                  Windham Hill Jazz 0113
Billy Childs             His April Touch                                             Windham Hill Jazz 0131
Billy Childs             Portrait Of A Player                                    Windham Hill Jazz 10144 

Billy Childs             Take For Example This                                  Windham Hill Jazz 0113
Billy Childs             His April Touch                                             Windham Hill Jazz 0131
Billy Childs             Portrait Of A Player                                    Windham Hill Jazz 10144 

Turtle Island String Quartet                                                             Windham Hill Jazz 110
Turtle Island String Quartet  Metropolis                                          Windham Hill Jazz 114
Turtle Island String Quartet  A Shock To The System  (Soundtrack)     
                                                                                                        Windham Hill Jazz 123
Turtle Island String Quartet      Skylife                                             Windham Hill Jazz 126
Turtle Island String Quartet      On The Town                               Windham Hill Jazz 10132 
Turtle Island String Quartet      Spider Dreams                            Windham Hill Jazz 10141 
Turtle Island String Quartet    Who Do We Think We Are?           Windham Hill Jazz 10146
Turtle Island String Quartet   By The Fireside                              Windham Hill Jazz 11175

Denny Zeitlin     Trio                                                                         Windham Hill Jazz 112
Denny Zeitlin     In the Moment                                                        Windham Hill Jazz 121

While I don't own a Tuck & Patti CDs, they have a remarkable chemistry and they are very enjoyable in a live setting.

As far as George Winston, I feel about the same about George Winston as the late critic Martin Williams, as he noted in the article "This Fellow, George Winston," which appeared in one of his last books, Jazz In Its Time (Oxford University Press).

Or you can check out this piece:

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/dirty-dirty-dirty-george-plays-jelly-roll-george-winston-stomp-out-review-by-ken-dryden.php

 

Edited 28 July by Ken Dryden

[danasgoodstuff]

I have a Professor Longhair album on a Wndham sub that I quite like.  IIRC, Winston produced it and Gatemouth Brown is the guitar player.

[Rooster_Ties]

Speaking of WH subs, there sure were/are a lot of them!

https://www.discogs.com/label/23112-Windham-Hill-Records

Sublabels 

Dancing Cat Records, High Street Records, Lost Lake Arts, Open Air Records, Pure (17), Select Sounds, Sounds of Wood & Steel, Windham Hill Classics, Windham Hill Jazz, Windham Hill Records CD Collection