Pianist George Winston has died. “We’re deeply saddened to share the information that George Winston has handed away after a 10-year battle with most cancers,” reads a word posted to Winston’s official Fb web page. “George quietly and painlessly left this world whereas asleep on Sunday, June 4, 2023. George courageously managed critical cancers, together with having a profitable bone marrow transplant for Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) in 2013 at Metropolis of Hope, in Duarte, California, that gratefully prolonged his life by 10 years.” Winston was 73.

The complete assertion is under:

We’re deeply saddened to share the information that George Winston has handed away after a 10-year battle with most cancers. George quietly and painlessly left this world whereas asleep on Sunday, June 4, 2023. George courageously managed critical cancers, together with having a profitable bone marrow transplant for Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) in 2013 at Metropolis of Hope, in Duarte, California, that gratefully prolonged his life by 10 years. All through his most cancers remedies, George continued to write down and document new music, and he stayed true to his best ardour: performing for reside audiences whereas elevating funds for Feeding America to assist struggle the nationwide starvation disaster together with donating proceeds from every of his live shows to native meals banks. Throughout an illustrious profession spanning greater than 50 years, George’s music first grew to become identified and cherished by his followers with the discharge of his two most iconic albums, Autumn (1980) and December (1982). George’s recordings advanced with the instances whereas garnering a GRAMMY Award for Forest (plus 5 GRAMMY nominations) and promoting over 15 million albums. George touched the hearts of generations together with his acclaimed solo acoustic piano compositions. From his early days in Montana, Mississippi and Florida, to his later life residing within the San Francisco Bay Space and touring to cities worldwide, America’s lovely landscapes and pure seasons formed his singular instrumental people piano. With 16 solo piano albums to his title, George recorded good piano music, which incorporates tribute recordings for Vince Guaraldi, The Doorways, a Hurricane Katrina aid profit, Gulf Coast and Louisiana Wetlands advantages, September 11 profit, a most cancers analysis profit for Metropolis of Hope, the Peanuts episode “This Is America Charlie Brown: The Delivery Of The Structure,” amongst others. George’s legacy consists of his beloved catalog in addition to an archive of his personal acoustic guitar and harmonica recordings, and albums by an array of Hawaiian slack key artists on his personal document label, Dancing Cat Data. George is pre-deceased by his dad and mom, George and Mary Winston, and is survived by his sister, niece and nephew.

Born in Michigan in 1949, Winston was raised in Montana and began enjoying the organ after listening to the Doorways in 1967. He switched to piano, newly impressed by artists similar to Thomas “Fat” Waller, Teddy Wilson, later Earl Hines, Donald Lambert, and Cleo Brown.

In his skilled life, Winston was first recorded by famous fingerstyle guitarist John Fahey for Fahey’s Takoma Data, which launched Winston’s 1973 debut, Piano Solos. In 1979, William Ackerman requested Winston to for Ackerman’s new label, Windham Hill Data, which resulted in 1980’s Autumn, which grew to become the label’s best-selling document. That and its follow-up — 1982’s Winter Into Spring — went platinum. 1982’s Christmas album December later went triple platinum.

Later, Winston launched albums masking the work of Peanuts composer Vince Guaraldi, with whom he held a deep fascination. In 1996, Winston launched Linus And Lucy: The Music Of Vince Guaraldi. Its follow-up, Love Will Come: The Music Of Vince Guaraldi, Quantity 2, got here out in February 2010. A 3rd quantity, entitled Depend The Methods: The Music Of Vince Guaraldi, Quantity 3, was launched simply two years in the past.

Over the course of his profession, Winston additionally launched piano albums devoted to the Doorways (2002’s Evening Divides The Day – The Music Of The Doorways) and profit albums: 2001’s Remembrance – A Memorial Profit, 2006’s Gulf Coast Blues & Impressions: A Hurricane Reduction Profit, and 2012’s Gulf Coast Blues & Impressions 2: A Louisiana Wetlands Profit.

As a producer, Winston labored with quite a few Hawaiian slack-key guitarists similar to Keola Beamer, Sonny Chillingworth, Leonard Kwan, Dennis Kamakahi, Ray Kane, Cyril Pahinui, Bla Pahinui, Martin Pahinui, Ledward Kaapana, Georg Kuo, Ozzie Kotani, George Kahumoku, Jr., Moses Kahumoku, Cindy Combs, and others, releasing their work by way of his label Dancing Cat Data.

Although he suffered from quite a few sicknesses stemming from his most cancers battle, Winston recorded and launched music, a few of which he’d performed in a medical heart auditorium. In 2019, Winston launched his fifteenth solo piano album, Stressed Wind, which featured interpretations of songs by Sam Cooke, the Doorways, Stephen Stills, George and Ira Gershwin, Nation Joe McDonald, and extra.