Doors form music
core for Winston

Most pianists, unless you're Dr. John, have 10 fingers, and for George Winston, 10 fingers aren't enough to count off his musical influences. Let's see -- there are the masters of white soul R&B, like Floyd Cramer, of black soul, like Booker T., wacky surf music like that bouncing out of Dick Dale's Strat, Henry Mancini's jazzy pop exercises, the brooding aural landscapes of Beethoven and Rachmaninoff, Bert Kaempfert's cranked-up Farfisa, Martin Denny's jungle jook, Professor Longhair's stride sounds, even the eye-filling wonder of Montana's vast, primal landscapes, where he grew up.

George Winston in concert Where: Orvis Auditorium, University of Hawaii Department of Music Time: 7 p.m. Sunday Admission: $40 Call: 956-7756

But let's not forget what Winston calls "the greatest piece of music I ever heard. ... It is the perfect song."

Yep, we're talking about "Break on Through (To the Other Side)," the first cut on the first album by the Doors, 1967.

"The arrangement, dynamics, lyrics, the great jazz-influenced drumming and percussion by John Densmore, the beautiful guitar lines by Robby Krieger, the incredibly powerful and unique organ instrumental break by Ray Manzarek, with his simultaneously hypnotic bass lines, and those vocals by Jim Morrison. It was deeper to me than anything I'd ever heard," Winston said. "It was also the first time I had ever really paid attention to the lyrics of a song, and the first time I had been that affected by a whole album, musically and otherwise."

So if you hear Doors influences in Winston's many conceptual records, you're not hearing things. Or maybe you are. He even released an album this year of piano arrangements for 11 Doors songs.

Winston is playing a solo piano concert Sunday to benefit the University of Hawaii Department of Music. Bring cans of nonperishable food -- Winston works with food banks wherever he performs.

Winston is also known as the recording mastermind behind Dancing Cat Records, the first label to treat slack-key guitar with both respect and high fidelity.

"Thanks to an article in the 1970s by Keith Haugen, I discovered slack key, and every time I got a paycheck, I'd buy a couple slack-key albums," said Winston, who was inspired to learn it himself and now performs it in concert several times a year. "The University of Hawaii thing is perfect because I've always wanted to play in Orvis Auditorium -- the acoustics are so good. We recorded George Kuo there and didn't need to place mikes inside the guitar."

ALTHOUGH HIS eclectic stuff is often hidden away among New Age twaddle -- "I don't pay attention to labels" -- Winston calls his unique groove "folk piano" or "traditional North American dance music," breaking away from European traditions.

He also tours constantly, a musical work ethic, operating out of the Dancing Cat home port of Santa Cruz, Calif. "To keep me from sitting around, I have to do live shows. It's that carrot in front of me. If I don't have to play, I won't! Ha!"

Dancing Cat has slowed down a little in the last year, and the company downsized as well, reflecting a general malaise in the recording industry. His office is "looking into alternate means of distribution," which could even mean Web downloads.

But expect to see more Dancing Cat albums. Lots of them. "We've got enough stuff in the vault to do another 20 or 30 albums. The inspiration strikes me when I visit the islands. Waimea is the only place on earth as beautiful musically as Montana."

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