.....A while back I mentioned how much I love piano music. This lead to a suggestion that I check out George Winston. Now, I have to tell you the name rang a little tiny bell somewhere, as in...I'd heard it before, but honestly......I knew nothing about him. Ahh..but the wonders of the internet......one can learn alot, quickly. & with MOG radio......one can hear..........

....So, one of the very first things one learns of Mr Winston is that he cites three major musical idols for helping to shape his approach to music; Professor Longhair, The Doors, & Vince Guaraldi. Of course I know the music of Professor Longhair & the school of piano playing he engendered. Dr John is a favorite around the crypt, and he may be The Professor's best known disciple. And we can certainly hear the echo of New Orleans in Mr Winston's left hand as he coaxes the "fonk" out of a piece. Pugilistic or light & lithe his approach is concise yet liquid, warm. He phrases the melody with a reverential exuberance, bringing out the childlike wonder Mr Guaraldi embued in them.

Sunbeam bursts of notes float & fly on gentle rhythms like bright colored kites in a warm breeze.......Pebble Beach/Dolores Park

I knew nothing of Vince Guaraldi.....My loss. I guess his broadest exposure came as the composer of the music of the Peanuts specials. Full disclosure....Charlie Brown & The Gang's TeeVee specials were popular during my very early adulthood & never really showed up on my radar. But when I think of them....I always get a mental picture of little Linus sitting hunched over his toy piano....& the mind supplies the soundtrack based on that image...............And so when I saw that George Winston was playing selections from Snoopy specials.......there was some trepidation, to say the least.

Man......was I wrong. The music Mr Guaraldi wrote for those specials were specials in themselves, & George Winston brings them to life in warm smooth performances that highlight the inherent bathos, the evocative, almost longing spirit of the music.

It Was A Short Summer, Charlie Brown...... Just listen to this track! It really is amazing the complexity of this "simple little tune", and Mr Winston brings it alive so effortlessly with an infectious enthusiasm that one almost can't help but be swept along.

......Its not the kind of music i'll play every time i play music, but it'll definitely get it's spins. And selections will certainly make it on to my mixes. George Winston, America's premier folk pianist really shines here, adding to a canon thats already impressive.

That's the glory of MOG Radio.