Russian singers and dancers The Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble
Ecuadorian folk quartet Andes Manta
Galician piper from the Galician folk ensemble Milladoiro, Nando
Casals
Singer Kecia Lewis-Evans
Dutch horn player Dimitri Donders
who join the Paul Winter Consort in the legendary annual 'Winter Solstice
Whole Earth Christmas Celebration' held in the Cathedral of St John the
Divine, New York. Live recordings of highlights from the performances capture
the drama and excitement of an adventure that draws thousands each year
in celebration of the start of the holiday season and the longest night
of the year.
"Paul Winter's annual winter solstice performances aren't just
yuletide celebrations, but a global ritual played out in the embracing echoes
of the cathedral of St John the Divine. Winter draws together musicians
from around the world and, like the cathedral, gathers their music under
the broad umbrella of the Consort. Always the musical eclectic, Winter goes
to town in these once-a-year performances." (John Diliberto)
ARTISTS
THE PAUL WINTER CONSORT Paul Winter - soprano saxophone Paul Halley - piano, pipe organ Eugene Friesen - cello Rhonda Larson - flute Glen Velez - frame drums, percussion Jamey Haddad - drums, percussion Gordon Gottlieb - timpani, Brazilian surdos, percussion
Mark Perchanok - heckelphone Dorothy Papadakos - pipe organ
Russ Landau - bass
Eliot Wadopian - acoustic bass
Sammy Figueroa - congas, percussion (in Boon Song, Higland Heaven)
Ted Moore - drums (in Hodie, The Sparrow)
Café - congas, percussion (in Hodie, The Sparrow)
GUEST ARTISTS
The Dmitri Pokrovsky Singers (from Russia) Nóirín Ní Riain(from Ireland)
Andes Mantra Quartet (from Ecuador)
Nando Casals (from Spain)
Kecia Lewis-Evans (from the United States)
Dimitri Donders (from the Netherlands)
TRACKING
1. Fanfare (Paul Winter from west end of Cathedral, Gordon Gottlieb)
2. Tomorrow Is My Dancing Day (The Consort)
3. Fog On the Hill (Nóirín
Ní Riain, Eugene Friesen, Spotted Owl)
4. Shaman (Glen Velez, Paul Winter)
5. Boon Song (Úirapurú, Consort)
6. Buena Nueva - Good News (Andes Manta from wagon moving through Cathedral)
7. Nevaga - Neva River (Dimitri Pokrovsky and Alexander Danilov of the Pokrovsky Singers singing a Russian lament for the people who died building St.Petersburg)
8. Highland Heaven (Rhonda Larson with the Consort)
9. The Sparrow (Kecia Lewis-Evans with the Consort)
10. Hodie - Good People All (Consort)
TURNING POINT SUITE (A journey into the darkness of the longest night, and a calling-in of the New Year)
11.Prelude: Marcha de San Benito - Processional March of San Benito (Nando Casals walking through Cathedral, Paul Halley)
12. The Night Forest (Paul Winter, Eugene Friesen, Rhonda Larson, Mark Perchanok - improvisation)
13. River (Elena Sidorenko, Maria Nefiodova, Irene Shiskina of the Pokrovsky Singers)
14. Trickster (Dimitri Donders)
15. Return of the Sun (Bellringers throughout the Cathedral, Paul Winter from high altar, Paul Halley, Scott Sloan on sun gong ascending to the dome, tundra wolf recording)
16. Solstice Chant (The Consort and special guests)
17. Christmas Day Is Come / Duet For The Longest Night (Nóirín
Ní Riain, Paul Halley, Paul Winter)
18. Down In Belgorod (The Dimitri Pokrovsky Singers with the Consort)
19. Minuit - Midnight / Adeste Fideles (Lead vocals Paul Winter and Paul Halley, The Consort, Special Guests, Audience, Sun Gong)