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Personnel

Scott Cossu’s ensemble works have the heart, soul, and skill that come
from an artist motivated by personal vision rather than industry trends.
His 1980 debut album Still Moments featured harp, cello, and vibes as
foils for his own pianistic improvisations, at a time when solo
instrumentals were the rage. His style has evolved and become more
sophisticated over the years. Yet because each stage in his development
was carried out with the utmost sincerity and expressive intent, each
album he has recorded continues to have a life of its own

Scott Cossu’s “Wind Dance” is the artists first album, and the 16th
release on Windham Hill. Wind Dance is the first ensemble recording on
Windham Hill that most people are familiar with, but Linda Waterfall’s
“Mary’s Garden” and the eponymous “Kidd Afrika” R&B album predates
it by some 5 years.

Cossu is a thoughtful and talented player, and the second side of the
album in particular is strong. Nonetheless, “Wind Dance” is lighter
than Cossu’s later works. Cossu and labelmate de Grassi explore music
that will be familiar to listeners of the Pat Metheny Group recordings
of the time.

Recommended for Scott Cossu fans, Windham Hill collectors, or fans of
Pat Metheny’s early work. Otherwise, look to Scott Cossu’s later
recordings which are overall stronger.

		Wind Dance Produced by George Winston, featuring Alex de Grassi. “Cossu weds ethnic diversity to his natural style of ethereal piano. His enticing polyrhythms are fit for ecstatic dancing. A sparkling record.” – The Boston Globe “Undoubtedly, Scott Cossu is one of the jazz luminaries of the future.” -Billboard Magazine
		1981 Windham Hill WD-1016

Born in West Virginia in 1951, Scott grew up in a small Ohio town where he started playing piano at age twelve. While his teen years drew him into rock bands, he remained serious about his classical studies, turning down a swimming scholarship to study music at Ohio University (which this year awarded him its Music Achievement Award for the year 2000). After graduation, the influence of the Sudanese musician Hamza El Din led him to graduate studies in ethno-musicology at the University of Washington. In 1977, Scott traveled to Ecuador where he lived first in the desert-like Chota Valley, moving on to the Andes to do field research for his master’s thesis. The music of the Ecuadorian people has a fascinating overlay of African, Hispanic and native Andean rhythms, and Scott’s immersion in this culture and music resulted in an influx of Indian and Latin rhythms and themes in his own music. After his return, Scott began performing, recording and creating film and video scores, developing his style and approach to composition. He has since produced 10 albums and scores for a number of projects. He is currently living in the Northwest and preparing new compositions for his next recording project.

Pianista erudito,
che maneggia con disinvoltura minimalismo e jazz, Scott
Cossu fu uno dei primi a saltare sul treno della new age pianistica, ma
lo fece con una raccolta, Still
Moments, che lasciava presagire il futuro degli ensemble acustici da
camera. Wind Dance,
a parte la chitarra e qualche percussione, è ancora un album
prevalentemente solista, imbevuto di
atmosfere sognanti e un po’ esotiche.

La sua fortuna la fecero comunque i bozzetti da camera come Oristano

Sojourn (su Islands), con i suoi volteggi incalzanti di
flauto su sottofondo jazz-rock (grazie
anche a fior fior di collaboratori).

L’armonia soffusa di She Describes Infinity, con violini,
chitarra e
percussioni, fu la prova generale per Switchback, che vanta
Eugene Friesen al violoncello, Van
Manakas alla chitarra, Dave Valentin al flauto e Jim Brock alle
percussioni.

Nel 1988 Cossu venne investito da un’auto e perse la memoria.
Dopo tre
anni di convalescenza e riabilitazione, è tornato sulle scene con Stained
Glass
Memories. Lo circondano Mark Egan al basso, Valentin al flauto,
Manakas alla chitarra, David
Darling al violoncello, Sammy Figueroa alle percussioni. Il sound è meno
lirico, meno new age, e
più jazz e rock, come nel Old Man Mambo e nel Cajun Kitchen
Blues.