George Winston, Prolific American Pianist, Dies at 73

The artist passed away after a 10-year battle with cancer

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Jun 6, 2023

George Winston — the award-winning American musician known best for his top-selling solo piano albums named for the seasons — has died. News of Winston's death came via a note on his website, sharing that he passed away "quietly and painlessly" Sunday (June 4) following a decade-long battle with cancer. He was 73.

"George courageously managed serious cancers, including having a successful bone marrow transplant for Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) in 2013 at City of Hope, in Duarte, California, that gratefully extended his life by 10 years," the announcement reads.

"Throughout his cancer treatments, George continued to write and record new music, and he stayed true to his greatest passion: performing for live audiences while raising funds for Feeding America to help fight the national hunger crisis along with donating proceeds from each of his concerts to local food banks."

Born in Michigan, Winston gravitated towards instrumental rock and instrumental R&B as a young listener, and began playing the organ in the late '60s before switching to acoustic piano the following decade upon discovering the stride piano style of Thomas "Fats" Waller and Teddy Wilson. He would make his debut with Piano Solos in 1972 (later reissued as Ballads and Blues 1972), co-produced by guitarist John Fahey and released via his Takoma Records label.


Winston would lay the foundation for career success in the following decade after sending a demo to guitarist William Ackerman — co-founder of nascent instrumental music label Windham Hill Records — in 1976. Winston's first effort for the label was 1980's Ackerman-produced Autumn, which would go on to earn Platinum certification in the United States.

The artist's compositions and association with Windham Hill led the pianist to be classified as a new age artist, though he preferred to call his style of play "rural Folk piano." Over his career, he would receive multiple Grammy nominations for Best New Age Album, winning the award in 1996 for his seventh album, 1994's Forest.

Winston would find environmental inspiration for albums like Autumn's Platinum-certified follow-up Winter into Spring, the Christmas-centred December, the aforementioned Forest and Plains. You can hear select pieces from those albums below.

Winston's recording catalogue also includes a pair of albums of the music of Vince Guaraldi, 2002's solo piano Doors cover collection Night Divides the Day, and benefit albums for those affected by the September 11 terrorist attacks, victims of Hurricane Katrina and the protection of the Louisiana Wetlands. He also played guitar and harmonica, the latter instrument given an LP of its own with 2012's Harmonica Solos.

Last year saw Winston release his 16th solo piano album Night via RCA. The effort features four original compositions, in addition to his own renditions of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and Allen Toussaint's "Freedom For The Stallion."

Winston is survived by his sister, niece and nephew.



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