New age piano wouldn't be the same without George Winston. The self-described "rural folk piano" player was one of the first and most enduring success stories to emerge out of the contemporary wave of instrumental music.Winston was born in Michigan but raised in Montana, and the seasonal changes are clearly mimicked in his music. The great pianist began playing the organ after high school and then switched to the electric piano before settling on the acoustic piano in 1971. Winston's influences vary from Floyd Cramer, the Ventures and Booker T. & the MG's to the piano of Teddy Wilson and Fats Waller, but he channeled jazz for the release of his first solo piano album, 1972's Ballads and Blues.After a mysterious music hiatus, Winston discovered Professor Longhair, the iconic New Orleans R&B pianist, in 1979 and was inspired, promptly returning to the piano scene. Winston signed with instrumental label Windham Hill and recorded a trilogy of albums in 1982. Autumn, December, and Winter Into Spring was a piece of pastoral piano that would later influence the new age of instrumental music. Winston vanished again for the rest of the 1980s, only appearing to score Meryl Streep's 1986 reading of The Velveteen Rabbit. Winston was back in full force in the ‘90s, releasing 1991's Summer, 1994's Forest and 1996's Linus & Lucy- The Music of Vince Guaraldi. The accomplished piano composer and performer continues to ride the contemporary instrumental wave with his trademark compositions that are to music what impressionism is to painting.