Windham Hill Artists - An Evening With Windham Hill Live (1983)

An Evening With... was a star-studded 'live sampler' album issued by Windham Hill in their first flush of major success.  From the liner notes: "On October 9th, 1982, a group of ten Windham Hill musicians gathered for two shows at the Berklee Performance Center, Boston, Massachusetts. It was during those two shows that these recordings were made."

It's a treat to hear all these great musicians out of the studio and on stage, even if just a fleeting spotlight falls on each of them.  Michael Hedges is up first with a superb Rickover's Dream from Aerial Boundaries, the live solo performance showcasing his extrodinary talent to an even greater extent than the original.  Not to be outdone, Alex De Grassi turns in nine minutes of rolling loveliness in Turning: Turning Back, then is heard in a group format on another of his pieces, Clockwork.  That odd sound you hear is a lyricon, the first ever electronic wind controller; the player here, the late Chuck Greenberg, was one of the co-engineers of the instrument.

Hedges returns to kick off the album's second half, again playing a track from Aerial Boundaries, Spare Change.  Dedicated to Steve Reich, the piece is backed up by Liz Story on piano and bassist Michael Manring, and displays just how much the early Windham Hill stable owed to the classic ECM sound.  Next in the spotlight is Windham Hill founder William Ackerman to play two of his pieces.  Visiting has more lyricon from Greenberg and bass from Manring, then Hawk Circle is a guitar duet with Hedges while George Winston backs them on piano.  And it's Winston who closes the album, in a solo medley of Reflections and John McLaughlin's Lotus Feet.  Absolutely gorgeous music from start to finish.

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Windham Hill at SGTG:
Piano Solos | Autumn | December (Winston)
Solid Colors | Unaccountable Effect (Story)
Southern Exposure (De Grassi)
Aerial Boundaries (Hedges)

Liz Story - Unaccountable Effect (1985)

Liz Story's follow-up to her debut Solid Colors (see last week) offered another album's worth of superior Windham Hill solo piano, but with a couple of surprises bookending the album.  The most striking of these was the opening title track, in which Story collaborated with Mark Isham on synth to create a beautifully atmospheric piece.  On the album closer Deeper Reasons, Story collaborates with a percussionist (and also plays some herself) to eerie dramatic effect.

Everything in between these two new-sound tracks is performed by Story alone, but even here there's a definite progression from her debut.  The Bill Evans aficionado of Solid Colors has matured more into her own sound, and perhaps became more of what might be termed a New Age pianist, but still very much on her own terms.  There's no denying Story's considerable talent and lightness of touch on all of these tracks, and I think I'd go as far as saying that this is my favourite Windham Hill piano album that I've heard yet.  Definitely the most satisfying on repeat listens.

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Liz Story - Solid Colors (1982)

Out of the seemingly endless stream of solo piano demo tapes that were being mailed to Windham Hill in the wake of George Winston's initial success, there was one pianist that Will Ackerman was convinced was the real deal.  Born in San Diego in 1956, Liz Story was classically trained and had become set on a career in music following a meeting with her idol Bill Evans after a concert of his.

Story's debut album Solid Colors certainly provided much of the impressionistic accessibility that the Windham Hill audience were looking for - it's been described in retrospect as "the intellectual sister of Winston's December" - but didn't always land with more traditional jazz audiences when "critics, expecting her to tackle Ellington and Monk, panned her performances."

Their loss, to be honest: from this distance, Solid Colors is a great solo piano record, rooted in jazz, that prioritises melody and economy but doesn't dumb down her nimble touch.  Story might not be Keith Jarrett, but she's certainly more versatile than Winston, and breezes through nine originals and a closing cover of Evans' Peace Piece in a great sounding production.  Next time: Story broadens her sound a little with the help of an ambient-jazz legend.

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