Musician uses piano as a door to blues fusions

By Sharon Wootton
Special to The Herald
 

Jim Morrison might seem a strange role model for Grammy-winning pianist George Winston, but the Doors singer was something of an inspiration for Winston.

"I'd like to do my thing as well as he did his," Winston said.

"We're both loving the blues, loving rhythm and blues. I have my own substance abuse problems with sugar. It changes my mood and shuts you down. It just didn't kill me."

Winston performs Monday on Whidbey Island.

He started out with the organ in 1967 because of the Doors' music but switched to piano after hearing Fats Waller.

The Doors had a raw power that's hard to convey on a piano, although Winston gave it a shot with his last CD, "Night Divides the Day: The Music of the Doors."

While some interpretations work well ("Crystal Ship," "Riders on the Storm") in his melodic approach, others could use more dark moodiness than a solo piano can provide.

The band was one of equals, not just a lead singer and back-up musicians, Winston said, and he interprets their music through that lens.

It's somewhat ironic: For all of his appreciation of the band as a team, he says he's a solo man.

"I don't play well with people although my concept of the piano is a band not orchestral. What I care about is playing songs for people; records are a secondary thing," Winston said.

When he records, Winston said he doesn't have a particular hope for the outcome.

"Hope makes you draw false conclusions, it's not a way of being objective. If you say, 'I want there to be a black hole at the center of the galaxy,' it really has a bad way of affecting your observations."

Besides, Winston said, listeners' perceptions are very different.

"There's no really tangible objective reality. We're dealing with the tastes and opinions of each person, each equally valid in their own way.

"Some day we'll have quantum CDs where there are seven endings, seven introductions, seven solos ... and the computer will randomly mix it up," Winston said.

Most of his piano work is in the style of great New Orleans pianists, particularly Henry Butler, Dr. John and the late Professor Longhair.

"I've been unlocking Henry Butler's secrets every day for 17 years. I'm still learning the language. It's like going to France or Spain and learning the language."

Winston is not a composer by temperament.

"I write a song or two a year by accident. I have the temperament of a classical pianist but I don't play the three Bs ... the European tradition is a great tradition but it's not for me."

Every year or so, Winston does solo dance nights, complete with rock 'n' roll, soul and R&B.

"It's up to me to get it funky enough for the audience to want to dance."

Dancing's not on the agenda Monday, but Winston may toss in a bit of slack-key guitar for good measure.