whatever happened to Windham Hill Records?

whatever happened to the ground breaking Windham Hill record label?

last I heard - Sony owned them - but haven't heard of a new release in a long time

really enjoyed William Ackerman, Alex Degrassi, Shadowfax, Liz Story, Montreaux, Anger and Higbie, Michael Manring etc

it's a shame more of this type of music isn't available

then again - we always have ECM
(any titles you would recommend from them)

 

I know a number of acts jumped to bigger labels, such as Michael Hedges, Mark Isham, and Liz Story. Maybe George Winston, too?

 

Windham Hill is part of Sony, just as Narada is part of EMI now.

 

This keeps happening over and over: small label flourishes, big label buys 'em out, goes through budget cuts, lays off all the original guys, lather, rinse...




Now playing on Ariel Stream: Carmen Rizzo w/Kate Havnevik - Sirens

 

For what it's worth, artists on both Narada & Windham Hill (and some would add MCA Master Series) were all very well recorded and mastered.

 

Back when I was in college in the late 80's, early 90's, Windham Hill was a favorite of mine. I was a big fan of most artists on the label. Since I was a college student and poor, I could never afford to get many of the CD's that were out. Now, however, I am still a big fan, and I find WH discs all the time in the bargain bins. It's a good day when I stumble across one and buy it on the spot. Over the last couple years, I have accumulated many of the WH titles and now have a very nice collection. If I don't find them on CD, I find them on vinyl. As a previous post stated, they are mastered well. I think the call for WH style music either has faded or gone entirely. Back in college I worked several Christmases at Camelot Music, and WH stuff did not stay in stock long. The Michael Hedges stuff and George Winston is still being sold in the regular bins, but the rest such as Liz Story and others are not. I have always loved the sampler albums and have most of them. I even saw the Windham Hill Live Christmas shows when they came to Akron, Ohio. Seeing and Liz Story play "Wedding Rain" live will always be a cherished memory.

 

Same here. That was when I "worked" as a DJ at my college radio station. We were such a tiny station that we had no music-buying budget, therefore all of the DJ had to bring in their own music. We couldn't compete with the other radio stations, not even other college radio stations, so we played whatever that no one else was playing. And Windham Hill was one of my favorites, along with Private Music (featuring Patrick O'Hearn, a pre-fame Yanni, etc.) and Narada. I even played early John Tesh, like his soundtrack for the Tour de France. I still have all of those Windham Hill LPs, in their original rice paper inner sleeves. Recently, I have been collecting early Windham Hill CDs, many of which were made in Japan or West Germany.

 

Not to derail the thread, and I cringe even saying this because most folks are likely to laugh, but the first three John Tesh albums (Garden City on A&M and Tour De France and Tour De France: The Early Years on Private Music) are actually pretty good if you like instrumental synth rock.

 

I had the first 2....I agree, very good stuff.

 

Cookie Marenco, who used to work at Windham Hill, set up Blue Coast:

http://bluecoastrecords.com/

 

Windham Hill is mentioned here (mst3k):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKKKo3moi24

 

Will Ackerman sold out to BMG, who in turn were purchased by Sony.

When I was in college, I saw Will Ackerman a few times in my dorm. This was in the late '70s, when the label was still a back-pocket thing, with only a few releases, self-distributed by Ackerman himself, and before New Age was even on anyone's radar. He was a friend of one of the RAs in my dorm and she'd have him come over and play for us...

 

They really cared about mastering.

 

Absolutely one of the best things I love about Windham Hill, Narada and MCA Master Series.

 

love windham hill, ive found lots of windham hill stuff at goodwill, all in good condition, great inner sleeves, records sound like the artist is in the room with you.
like a previous post said the demand for the style of music fell off, even though i think they are better and slightly separate from other new age music of the time such as stephen halpern

 

I wonder if Ackerman was deeply influenced by ECM and Manfred Eicher.
Branded covers with pastoral images: check
stable of similar artists in autumnal moods: check
high-quality, closely-miked recordings: check

And yet ECM lps were often so much better, IMHO. But Windham Hill did have some fine guitarists on duty.

 

I had an interesting Bola Sete album on WH years ago. Now a part of this CD. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...9V3&ref_=sr_1_1&s=music&qid=1330660121&sr=1-1

 

Was this at EJ Thomas hall at the University of Akron? Around '86 or '87? I saw a show with Liz Story and Michael Hedges. It was an evening with Windham Hill Live or something like that. Can't recall if it was a Christmas show, but it was really good. Very unique. Can't recall who the 3rd performer on the bill was.

We may have been at the same show!

 

This will probably sound like an ECM-snob, but I don't think they are in the same category at all. Perhaps there is some attempt at imitation (or homage), but it's superficial.

 

Hedges never jumped ship. He was still on Windham Hill at the time of Oracle, and they released the posthumous Torched as well. I loved early Windham Hill albums, up through 86 or 86. In the early 90's, there was more active catering to themed compilation albums and New Age philosophy that didn't do them any musical favors, I think.

 

Love WH, but they seemed to stop makng vinyl a long time ago. It was never very widely available in the UK to start with. By pure chance (I don't ususally look for (S/h vinyl)I found Ackerman: PAssage and one of the samplers in perfect condition a few years back.

 

Windham Hill Records

We seem to think alike here.

Like most of you I really enjoyed Windham Hill's early years. I just liked the idea behind the label and they were a refreshing change from the commercial, synth music released at the same time (early 80s). I still think there is a market for the type of music that they were known for, although at this point in time that market is smaller.

Some of the same people who liked WH also tend to like ECM, Rounder Records and SPA (#68) on XMRadio. Unlike ECM, Windham Hill actually became known to average folks. I've known plenty of non-audiophile music listeners who latched on to WH music and knew the label's name and looked for their releases. On the other hand, those I know who know of ECM tend to be audiophiles, I just don't see the average folks knowing to look at ECM releases.

At any rate, I loved the early WH albums and still listen to them. I wish they could have stayed longer and released more. Favorites of mine are, Darol Anger and Barbara Higbie, Alex DeGrassi, George Winston, Michael Hedges and Liz Story. I like the Lost Lake line of albums like Bola Sete-Ocean, Robbie Basho-Steel String Guitar, John Renborn-Sir John a lot and especially the couple of Pierre Bensusan releases.

Scott

 

They built a wind farm on Windham Hill...
I hate that insipid (imho) 'music'

 

Michael Hedges passed away is what happened. I have a bunch of WH stuff, some on cassette before it was on CD. Check out Michael Hedges Live on the Double Planet for some mind blowing stuff. That, and Breakfast in the Field.

 

The Darol Anger/Mike Marshall album Chiaroscuro is my most-played WH album for many years now, followed closely by Mark Isham's Vapor Drawings.