Paul Winter Sextet Releases CD COUNT ME IN; Plays WINTER SOLSTICE CELEBRATION, Now thru 12/15

Paul Winter's "Count Me In", a two-disc anthology of recordings by Winter's first band, The Paul Winter Sextet, has just been released. The album is available just prior to the upcoming 50th anniversary of the group's Nov. 19, 1962 concert at the White House.

The Sextet was conceived as a kind of little 'big band,' and with its instrumentation of three horns and rhythm, it has quite a different sound from that of the Paul Winter Consort, which people have known Winter for during the last several decades. But on a primary level, it's all the same lineage: a spirit of celebration, in the democracy of ensemble, aspiring toward a balance between the improvised and the composed.

The album includes 14 previously unreleased tracks, including the White House concert, among many tracks from the Sextet's five Columbia albums.

To purchase the CD, click HERE. For the MP3, follow this LINK. And for a first listen, go to paulwinter.com/music/count-me-in.

Coming up is the WINTER SOLSTICE CELEBRATION from tonight, December 13 to the 15th. More details about this year's show will become available in the coming weeks. But as it relates to Count Me In, one of this year's special guests will be the reunited Paul Winter Sextet. Other performers are, along with the Paul Winter Consort, vocalist Theresa Thomason, African griot singer Abdoulaye Diabate, and the Forces of Nature Dance Theatre.