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What are your top 5 Windham Hill recordings?

Windham Hill Records was founded by William Ackerman and Anne Robinson in 1976. Guitarist William Ackerman released the first Windham Hill recording in 1976 titled "The Search For The Turtle's Navel" and ending with George Winston's 'Summer" released in 1991 after 100+ unique recordings for the original label. Ackerman sold part of his interest to BMG in 1992 followed by Anne Robinson in 1996. IMO the label is overlooked by many audiophiles considering the label offers above average sound quality and has many talented musicians. My interest in Windham Hill has peaked since finding several excellent recordings at thrift stores that were unknown to me. The more obvious WH recordings have been in my collection since the 80's  "Solid Colors" - "December" and "Aerial Boundaries" but I think there are many more gems in the WH catalogue. I appreciate your time and look forward to your replies.
dayglow
mksun
520 posts
 
Shadowfax - Shadowfax
Alex Degrassi - Clockwork 
Darol Angor and Barbara Higbie - Tideline
Liz Story - Solid Colors
Windham Hill Guitar Sampler

I listen to classic rock, alternative rock, R&B, jazz, blues, folk, reggae, world music, electronic music, and new age.  I have numerous Windham Hill CDs and the five I listed are on constant rotation. Why limit yourself to just one type of music?
dodgealum's avatar
dodgealum
1,406 posts
 

For anyone interested and nearby, I was in Lynchburg VA a few weeks ago and popped into Riverview Records to browse around a bit a found an entire section filled with WH LPs. More than I have seen in one place anywhere I've ever been. They were fairly priced and appeared in good collection. It looked as though they were purchased from a collector/audiophile that obtained the entire catalogue. Nice shop too, with some vintage gear including a pair of Acoustats flanking the main wall. 

FWIW, I particularly like the recordings by Alex DiGrassi and Michael Hedges. Hard to find better recorded solo acoustic guitar and these guys play their instrument very, very well (though totally different styles)

simonmoon's avatar
simonmoon
539 posts
 

The only ones that hold up for me, are he Shadofax releases.

First of all, they have more complexity and band interplay than most of the others I have heard, and since they originally came from the prog genre, they still retain quite a bit of their proginess for me.

Their frist release on Passport records, was a full on, intense, complex, chops laden prog album. Far from the toned down releases they did for WH.

And even when I saw them play live, after their 2nd WH release, they played all the WH material with substantially more intensity than on the recordings. It’s like, you could tell where their hearts were so to speak. More intense proggy fusion, in other words.

femoore12's avatar
femoore12
683 posts
 

Michael Hedges - Taproot. The song “I Carry Your Heart” is amazing. 
Nightnoise - At The End of The Evening 

William Ackerman - The Sound of Wind Driven Rain

All of the Windhill Guitar Samplers. 

jjss49's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
jjss49
6,612 posts
 

fond memories of the original alex degrassi lp too!

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