Dec. 19, 20 and 21, 2019 - Paul Winter's 40th Annual Winter Solstice Celebration - Cathedral of St. John the Divine, NYC

The Paul Winter Consort has had artist-in-residence status at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan since 1980, and this year Paul and the gang will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of their Winter Solstice Celebration. Four shows will take place; one each Dec. 19-21 with an additional matinee on Dec. 21, all featuring the 10-piece Paul Winter Consort and the 25 dancers and drummers of the Forces of Nature Dance Theatre.

This year's very special guest will be Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul & Mary fame. Adding to the fun will be the spectacle of a 28-foot spiral aluminum "Solstice Tree" adorned with bells, gongs and chimes and representing the diversity of species, the world's largest gong, and a giant Earth globe that comes through the cathedral's nave to rise over center stage. Also this December, Winter is celebrating the release of a brand-new solstice-related album.

Winter's solstice concerts have always featured musicians from around the world and a multitude of cultures, and his new album Everybody under the Sun: Voices of Solstice Vol. 1: The Singers is no different. The effort is a 2-CD, 30-song set featuring voices both familiar and lesser-known. An example of the former is Gary Brooker, the one-time singer for Procul Harum. Brooker sings on Winter's sublime arrangement of Procul Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and a take on John Lennon's "In My Life" (Lennon and Brooker were friends and Lennon was killed just 10 days before the first-ever Winter Solstice Celebration in 1980).

Among the album's many highlights are a slowed-down and reflective take on "You Are My Sunshine" sung by American Teresa Thomason and Zimbabwe's Lucky Moyo, the mystical "Words of Wish Fulfillment" by Tibet's Yanglin Lamu, and "Mystery" sung by original Paul Winter Consort vocalist Susan Osborn. Pete Seeger is the vocalist on "How Can I Keep from Singing," John-Carlos Perea turns in a light jazz version of "Witchi Tai To" and Lucky Moyo appears again to sing "Zebra Song," a great traditional song from Southern Africa, here with Paul Sullivan adding Hammond B-3 organ to the cut.