Paul Winter
Missa Gaia Earth Mass

Kyrie Eleison begins with the howl of a wolf. A cold and dark world, perhaps under a blanket of snow. A saxophone responds. Then a human voice is heard, then the saxophone and again the wolf intertwine to form a delicate melody, almost like a frost embroidery on an ice-covered spider web. The choir starts gently, the saxophone accompanies, the wolf fades. The choir sets in motion, then trots, gallops, explodes. Now it is pure energy, but still, atop everything like a flower of fire and ice, the saxophone blossoms for the final surge.

We are on the plateau, then we begin to descend. The choir is a machine that takes time to halt its boundless energy. Now, slow. The cold returns to sting. The wolf begins to sing again. Saxophone and wolf. The choir fades away. And there is silence. The peaceful night closes in on us.

Paul Winter, saxophonist, famous for being one of the first to attempt a fusion of very distant musical genres, is referred to by some as the father of "New Age Music". His most famous group, the Paul Winter Consort, in the late sixties and early seventies included Ralph Towner, Glen Moore, Collin Walcott, and Paul McCandless, who would lay the groundwork for the group Oregon through that shared experience. Winter also experiments with a way of composing music based on the sounds of nature and animal calls. He integrates Indian ragas, traditional African and Brazilian elements, jazz, Bach canons, and sacred music into his music. He coined the term "Earth Music" in contrast to the trend of "World Music".

"Missa Gaia" is a true sung mass, held on the first Saturday of October every year at St. John The Divine Cathedral in New York. Paul Winter pairs the church's imposing choir with a formation including soprano sax, cello, guitar, bass, and a plethora of Afro-Brazilian percussion instruments, adding a hint of Latinity to the faster pieces.

The progression is solemn, inspired, imbued with deep religiosity expressed as a free inclination of the human spirit towards the divine, distant from dogmas and fanaticism. At times, Winter gets carried away, and the music may sound cloying, especially in the last moments of the album, where some of the initial tension is lost. But at least four or five tracks are formidable: "Canticle of Brother Sun", which opens and closes the album, inspired by the "Canticle of the Creatures", rich with reminiscences of Gregorian chant; the aforementioned "Kyrie"; "Beatitudes", a touching hymn that transforms into a lively, sparkling gospel; "Return To Gaia", a duet between Winter and organist Paul Halley, with the organ exploding in all its power in the final part of the piece; "Agnus Dei", also opening with a mournful choir of howling wolves. Exceptional instrumental and vocal performances, highlighted by lead vocalist Susan Osborn and cellist Eugene Friesen.

Musical ecumenism, environmentalism, animalism, and sacredness. The spirit of Nature and the nature of Spirit. A flicker of spirituality in a Christmas that risks passing the same way or perhaps worse than others, amid crude consumerism and frustration. Give it a chance: you might fall in love with it.