Search - Paul Winter Consort :: Icarus

This 1972 classic captures saxophonist Paul Winter and his ensemble at the height of their improvisational powers. Winter was one of the first artists to incorporate such exotic instruments as the sitar and tabla into his music and the result was memorable chamber jazz-folk played in the wonderfully experimental, post-hippie way only Winter and his merry band could. The title track, one of guitarist Ralph Towner's compositions, became famous for its pensive melody and soaring soprano sax. "Whole Earth Chant" is a piece that foreshadows New Age artists like Loreena McKennitt with its echoing tribal drums interwoven with ominous distorted guitar. And "Minuit" downright borders on what today some would call world music--it features a choir of voices singing a simple, sauntering melody taken from a Guinean folk song. Classic early '70s Winter. --Karen Karleski