Customer Reviews

Common Ground

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Paul Winter is an artist who successfully reinvents himself each time he finds new and fresh talent to bring to his Consort or his Earth Band. (His most recent discovery, Arto Tuncboyaciyan, an Anatolian vocalist and percussionist, can be heard to great effect on two new Living Music albums, "Journey With The Sun" and "Every Day is a New Life." These new releases serve to document Winter's long-standing commitment to original, high-quality "world" music, which, in large part, began with "Common Ground.")

"Common Ground" is a transitional album, made in 1977 after the original Paul Winter Consort, due to "artistic differences," split into Oregon (Paul McCandless, Collin Walcott, Ralph Towner and Glenn Moore) and the later Paul Winter Consort that was to begin with his "Callings" album in 1980. Produced over a full summer's worth of creative activity, it features artists from both the old group (McCandless, David Darling, Janet Johnson) and the Consort of the "future" (Susan Osborn, Oscar Castro-Neves, Jim Scott, Steve Gadd and others). It is the Rosetta Stone, the "connective tissue," if you like, to these two rather disparate groups.

A few of the pieces here ("Icarus," "Minuit") are Paul Winter Consort cornerstones that have stood the test of time and transmogrification, still as fresh today as they were more than 25 years ago. The opening track, "Ancient Voices," is a collaboration with Paul Berliner, based on the latter's "Nhmamusasa" that appears on his "Zimbabwe: The Soul of Mbira" album, an early foray of Winter's into world music that continues to this day with Arto Tunchoyaciyan. There are a few tracks ("Eagle," "Common Ground") where Paul McCandless soars on oboe as only he can. His riffs on "Common Ground" simply have to be heard to be believed. "The Promise of a Fisherman" ("Iemanja"), an Afro-Brazilian chant, which was to later find a very comfortable home in Winter's "Missa Gaia" (Earth Mass), features lyrics by Ivan Lins, one of the early founders (with Castro-Neves and Winter) of the Bossa Nova movement.

But there is one overriding, compelling reason for my writing about this album, and that is the introduction of Susan Osborn as a vocalist to be reckoned with. Susan's "Lay Down Your Burden" (with Castro-Neves on Rodgers touring organ) is a blues/gospel classic. On this track, Oscar lays down his own blues chords which, quite frankly, are some of the best I've ever heard. And Susan's voice simply knocked me sideways.

I expect that Susan will have the same effect on you. Now, isn't that reason enough for you to get this classic album?

Bob Zeidler

For nearly forty years now, Paul Winter has carved a brilliant career from melding music of nature, of culture, of life, blending the various forces together to create a whole so unique and distinct, and creating a soundtrack for Unitarian Universalists around the world in the process. His strong connection to wildlife, his affinity for the earth's creatures and the music they make, is integral to his music, as is his uncanny ability to bring together so many different styles and genres, which at its most brilliant is just breathtaking, and which at its lesser moments, is brilliant just the same. COMMON GROUND is perhaps the greatest fusion of all things Paul Winter, born of a remarkable organic experience in the Summer of 1978, when he gathered several friends and musicians to his summer home and formed "the Village," out of which this album was created. The record is full of African and Brazilian rhythms, jazz stylings of oboist Paul McCandless and drummer Steve Gadd, and a trilogy of creatures-- wolf, whale, and eagle-- this is the true music of Earth.

I first heard this album when I was very, very young, probably two or three years old (I'm 21 now). At various times, the album simply returns to my life, and I'm constantly reawakened to its beauty. It opens with "Ancient Voices," a teriffic song that gradually shifts from African mbira dzavadzimu (sort of an enlargened African marimba) to a mid-tempo shuffle. And the lyrics gently introduce the entire theme of the album ("Ancient voices sing forever, guide me on my way. . . Turning spinning circle ending, Light begins the day"). "Eagle" features McCandless's soaring, sweeping oboe runs echoing the flight and call of an African Fish-Eagle. McCandless is an amazing oboist, as this piece and "Common Ground" highlight-- rare is the occasion when you can say "jazz oboist," but he pulls it off quite nicely. The more Brazilian take on Ralph Towner's "Icarus" (a Winter Consort stable) is quite lovely; this is my particular favorite arrangement, slightly ahead of the original. "The Promise Of A Fisherman (Iemanja)" is teriffic, a slow, majestic chant to the Candomble goddess set against frantic, rhythmic percussion; a very nice juxtaposition. And the song is a brilliant segue into the album's centerpiece, the wondrous "Ocean Dream." This is my favorite song on the album, an ode to the mysterious, beautiful creature, the whale (specifically, the humpback whale, whose call is heard throughout the song). What is so amazing about this song is, the chords and melody are based around the whalesongs, they're singing to the whales, and almost vice versa. The lyrics echo the childlike fascination and wonder Winter seems to hold for these creatures-- "Ocean child, come now home, holy wonder, wholly one; Ancient song, call me home, ave maris, ave om." And the song ends with Winter's soprano sax echoing the whale's calls. Beautiful. "Trio" represents the human side of the whale/eagle/wolf trio, later echoed on the final song, "Trilogy." It's a very subtle conclusion to the first side, and a nice short afterthought following "Ocean Dream."

Side Two opens with the rousing "Common Ground," an uplifting, spiritual piece with some teriffic solos and a thunderous Steve Gadd rhythm. Once again, the oboe solo in the middle of the song is absolutely breathtaking. Calming down a little bit, the next piece is the ethereal, soul-clensing "Lay Down Your Burden." Susan Osborne's voice is so emotional, and the song is so captivating, it draws you in and gently releases you at the song's conclusion. The best line, in my opinion, is "Sing with the choirs that surround you, and dance to the music in your soul; Look into the eyes that really see you; Place all that you have into that bowl." It's a call to one's soul, to be willing to sacrifice all and go with your own spirit. I love that idea. "Wolf Eyes" is a rather sad piece, very intriguing since generally, in pop culture, wolves are regarded as rather fierce, canniving creatures (this was before "Never Cry Wolf" and the incessant early-90's Disney G-rated Alaskan wildlife family adventures of course); here, the wolf is almost pitied, as the poem in the sleeve notes seems to emphasize ("The wolf had amber eyes/That stared out/The back of a station wagon"). And then, the most spine-tingling moment of the album, "Duet," a music duet between wolf and saxophone recorded live in the Village. It's just incredible (and additionally, showcases Winter's remarkable sense of pitch!). A reprise of "Minuit (Midnight)," first heard on the ICARUS album, is almost better, primarily for the addition of Osborne's "Midnight has come, I hear music, and I keep on singing" chant featured at the end of the piece. The album ends with Trilogy, blending the three animal voices together (remarkably, they were all in the same key), with but one organ note. An amazing ending to an amazing album.

This is my favorite Paul Winter album. Others worth hearing, especially if you enjoy this release (and I surely hope you do), include ICARUS, CANYON, and EARTH: VOICES OF A PLANET. All of his works either expand or follow the themes presented on this album, but in my opinion, it was with COMMON GROUND that Winter fused them best. A Must Own.

Of all of the fine music associated with Paul Winter over his long and illustrious career, this is by far my favorite. Critics can scoff if they like and toss him into the 'New Age' bin -- but there's so much more to his music than most of the recordings you'll find there.

Cutting his teeth in jazz, and combining his seemingly endless talent and imagination with his love of the earth and its inhabitants -- human and animal alike -- Winter has, over the years, consistently produced melodic, interesting albums that are challenging and comfortable at the same time. Always surrounding himself with stellar musicians -- a cast that has changed over the years, always first-rate -- he has continuously managed to transform his vision and emotion into some of the finest music of our age.

The ultimate tool that has allowed him to maintain his integrity is, I believe, his honesty. There is absolutely no element of pretense in his art -- he feels strongly and deeply about what he's doing, and it's present in every note. He combines various styles of ethnic music from around the world -- African, Brazilian, Native American and more -- with elements of jazz and classical music and sounds from nature (the wolf, the eagle, the whale) into a mix that comes together in such a way as to be seamless. It's as if they were made to fit together -- an audio metaphor for how we should live with each other and with the planet.

There is a comfort and serenity to this music -- and there is joy and rhythm and life. It's almost like a celebratory prayer -- a prayer of thanks for what we've been given in the form of the natural world and its peoples, and a prayer of hope that we don't throw it all away. It's a breathtakingly beautiful, stunning document.

If you like Paul Winter, you'll like this album. Sponsored by National Geographic in 1979 or 1980, proceeds from this album went to benefit wildlife. There is a particularly compelling tune named "Eagle", which soars.

Winter takes recordings of three wild animals (wolf, eagle, and humpback whale) and enfolds them in themes inspired by the recordings. The music was composed and recorded in a collaborative environment on retreat. The results vary from very good to spectacular.

My particular favorite is "Wolf Eyes", which begins with solo wolf cries, a short series of phrases that sound much like they might in a western movie. The cries fade and Winter develops a musical theme with traditional instruments. The crux of the piece occurs when Winter stips the theme to its fundamental elements, played very simply and superimposed with the orignal wolf cries, which suddenly take on profound musical form and soulful depth. It takes only a little imagination to believe that the wolf might have been hearing these chords in its mind's ear as it sang.

The theme of the album is that we all share the ability to use sounds (music) as a means of communication, and that this communication is emotional as well as literal.

This album also contains my favorite rendition of Ralph Towner's "Icarus", I believe the same recording as on Paul Winter Consort's "Icarus" title.

Fans of Oregon (Paul McCandless, Ralph Towner, et.al.) will like this album, but it is more accessible and will be enjoyed by many who find Oregon a bit demanding.

I have loved this album for almost 30 years. I continue to play it for people unfamiliar with it, and it never fails to knock them out. My particular favorites are Wolf Eyes and Lay Down your Burden. Beautiful, beautiful stuff. And oh yes, Minuet, with the marvelous Susan Osborn. I bought this for my father this past Christmas (he is 84) and he told me it reminded him of why he loved Paul Winter.
I really have nothing in the way of music criticism to say here---not my field! But damn, this is good stuff.

i've never met nor seen a concert of mr paul winter but i felt that he wrote these songs and music with all his heart..never in my life i've heard man and wildlife play not only such beautiful music but could really truly co-exist..not only a lesson for us but appreciation of "life on earth" as a whole...

I first received Common Ground as a gift in 1979 and it remains one of my favorite albums. At that time, New Age music was rearing its oft-fearful head and for those afriad of the road before them, Common Ground was like the mother's hand you grabbed when you first learned to cross the street.

I am not as knowledgeable about music as some of the other reviewers who have posted here. However, among the things I hear in Winters' music and like are:
-His use of varying locales for recording, which often allows instruments and voices to be heard in a different way (for ex., some of this album was recorded at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC);
-Incorporation of animal sounds to complement the music-making;
-The energy created by using an ever-changing band of musicians to accompany him; You can hear the different influences various individuals have brought to the song(s), making it difficult to say "THAT'S a PW song; and
-His lack of rigidity in adapting traditional musical forms or the creation of new formats.

Winter and his collaborators aren't afraid to wear their sensibilities on their proverbial sleeves, either. Some of these songs cut to the bone as pain is shared, or soar to the rooftop with joy, as in the title song, one of the most traditional on the album.

Wow. 30 years. Other than classical and musical theatre favorotes, and - of course - the Beatles (and maybe Pet Sounds), I can't think of another album of mine I'd cheerful play frequently today.